The Presidency has set September 3, 2026, for the proposed state police executive bill to be presented to President Bola Tinubu for review as part of a seven-week timetable for developing the legal framework.
Chairman of the Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill, Femi Gbajabiamila, disclosed this on Monday after the inaugural meeting of the committee at the State House.
Gbajabiamila said the committee had commenced administrative and technical work on the proposed legislation, with the entire process scheduled to run from July 27 to September 14, 2026.
President Tinubu had in July inaugurated the committee to develop the legal framework required for the implementation of state police in Nigeria.
Gbajabiamila said the executive bill resulting from the committee’s work was expected to be presented to the president on September 3.
According to him, subject to Tinubu’s approval, the draft legislation will subsequently undergo national consultation before being revised and prepared for transmission to the National Assembly.
“The approved work programme is a seven-week, milestone-driven exercise running from July 27 to September 14, 2026,” Gbajabiamila said.
“The resulting Executive Bill package is scheduled for presentation to the President on September 3.
“Subject to his approval, a national consultation on the completed draft will follow, after which the text and supporting materials will be revised and prepared for formal transmission to the National Assembly.
“The timetable is demanding, but it is not a shortcut.”
Gbajabiamila said the process was designed to ensure that the proposed legislation received adequate technical input and public participation before being forwarded to the National Assembly.
Nigerians to contribute to drafting process
Responding to questions on the financial implications of establishing state police, Gbajabiamila said it was too early to determine how much the proposed policing structure would cost.
He said any financial estimate would have to be based on research and the peculiar circumstances of individual states rather than assumptions.
“There is no cost to securing life and property. That is the first fundamental reason for being in government,” he said.
“At this stage, giving you a cost will be pulling something out of thin air. So we’re not going to be doing guesswork here or guesstimating as to what the cost is.
“The cost will be evidence-based. It will be based on thorough research and on a state-by-state basis because one state differs from another in terms of personnel, architecture, infrastructure and local security needs.”
Gbajabiamila also said members of the public would be given an opportunity to contribute to the proposed legislation through the submission of memoranda on the dedicated website, nationalpolicingbill.com.
According to him, the window for the submission of memoranda is expected to remain open for about 10 days, with the possibility of an extension if necessary.
“I talked about memoranda that will be open to the public from today—hopefully for about ten days. If there’s a need for an extension, we’ll extend that.
“The public is included. No matter your station in life, you have an opportunity to contribute meaningfully, because the whole idea behind state policing is for you and I and everybody sitting here and everybody out there to take ownership,” he said.
The proposed state police framework is expected to address issues including personnel, command structure, infrastructure and the varying security needs of states as the committee works towards completing the executive bill.
