State Police Bill To Reach NASS In Two Weeks, Says Presidency

The Federal Government expects to transmit the proposed National Policing Bill to the National Assembly inside two weeks, as consultations with state governors proceed over excellent observations on the laws.

Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu and Chairman of the Presidential Working Group on Policing Reform, Femi Gbajabiamila, disclosed this on Thursday after a steering committee assembly on the State House, Abuja.

Gbajabiamila stated the invoice was 90 per cent prepared, with additional consultations wanted to deal with the governors’ observations earlier than it’s submitted to the National Assembly.

“The National Policing Bill is more or less ready for transmission to the National Assembly. We will probably have one more meeting after this to cross the t’s and dot the i’s and make sure every area is covered. So, we are 90% ready,” he stated.

“The governors have one or two observations, and we should be ready in about a week or so,” he added.

The proposed laws comes amid renewed requires state police to deal with Nigeria’s safety challenges and issues over the capability of the present centralised policing system to sort out insecurity throughout the nation.

The Presidential Working Group started deliberations on the invoice on August 3.

Gbajabiamila additionally expressed confidence that state governments would help the passage of the Sixth Constitution Alteration Bill, which seeks to ascertain state police.

However, stories point out that solely about six states had handed the constitutional modification out of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, elevating questions in regards to the tempo of the method.

Gbajabiamila stated there was a nationwide consensus on the necessity for the proposed constitutional modifications and expressed optimism that states would keep their positions in help of the reform.

“I see no reason why anyone will want to have a rethink on it,” he stated.

The assembly was attended by the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq; Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun; Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani; and the Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu.

Also current was the Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Justice, Beatrice Jedy-Agba, who represented the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.

Other contributors included retired Justice Abdullahi Liman, Chairman of the Policy Advisory Committee; Professor Olu Ogunsakin, Head of the Nigeria Police Reform Secretariat; and Dr Lanre Smart, Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters (House of Representatives).

The President’s Senior Special Assistant on Planning and Research and Secretary of the committee, Nnadubem Moghalu, a consultant of the Nigerian Bar Association, and Assistant Inspector-General of Police Abraham Nabhon Thomas, representing the National Security Adviser, additionally attended.