Nigeria Moving Closer to State Police as Presidential Panel Submits 2026 Policing Bill

ABUJA, NIGERIA — The Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill has officially completed its assignment’s drafting stage. The panel formally submitted the draft National Policing Bill (2026) alongside 29 consequential amendment bills to the Federal Ministry of Justice for legislative review and validation.

The submission was made on Monday, October 19, 2026, to the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice. The review process will ensure that all 30 legal documents strictly conform to legislative drafting standards and conventions while avoiding conflicts with existing Nigerian laws.

The proposed National Policing Bill seeks to establish a historic constitutional and legislative framework to legalise a dual policing structure across the country. Once passed into law, it will transition Nigeria from a single central police institution to a system comprising a Federal Police Service and State Police Services.

The Chairman of the Presidential Working Group and Chief of Staff to the President, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, emphasized that the panel remains fully committed to a transparent and rigorous process to deliver an airtight legal framework for the presidency and the National Assembly.

According to the official timeline released by the Working Group, the subsequent phases of the security reform include formal validation by the Federal Ministry of Justice and the return of the vetted draft bills to the panel on or before Friday, October 30, 2026.

Following that will be a review by the presidential working group before presenting it directly to the President.

Work on the National Policing Bill is moving in parallel with the ongoing consideration of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026.

The 36 States’ Houses of Assembly are expected to complete their votes on the constitutional alteration before the final policing bill package is transmitted to the National Assembly for passage.

The legal overhaul is considered one of the most consequential security and decentralization policies of the current administration.