The Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila, has said the National Policing Bill is 90 per cent ready for transmission to the National Assembly.
Gbajabiamila, who chairs the Presidential Working Group on policing, disclosed this on Thursday after a steering committee meeting at the State House, Abuja.
He said the committee would likely hold one more meeting to address outstanding issues before transmitting the bill to the lawmakers within two weeks.
“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 per cent ready,” he said.
According to a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, Gbajabiamila said state governors had raised a few observations that would be considered before the bill was finalised.
He described the proposed legislation as “the most consequential bill of the administration so far,” noting that the committee had been deliberating on it since August 3.
Gbajabiamila also expressed confidence that states would support the proposed constitutional amendment to establish state police, despite reports that only about six states had passed the relevant constitutional alteration bill.
“I see no reason why anyone will want to have a rethink on it,” he said, adding that there was a “national consensus” on the need for the amendments.
The meeting 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.
Other participants included representatives of the Federal Ministry of Justice, the Nigeria Police Reform Secretariat, the National Assembly and the Nigerian Bar Association.
President Tinubu inaugurated the Presidential Working Group in July to develop the legal framework for establishing state police.
The National Assembly has since transmitted the constitutional amendment bill seeking to establish state police services to the 36 state Houses of Assembly for consideration.
The proposed National Policing Bill is expected to provide the operational framework for recruitment, training, funding, oversight and cooperation between federal and state police services.
