Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, says the National Policing Bill will be transmitted to the National Assembly within the next two weeks as the Federal Government advances plans for police reform.
Gbajabiamila, who chairs the Presidential Working Group on Police Reform, gave the update on Thursday after a steering committee meeting at the State House in Abuja, according to a statement issued by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy.
“The National Policing Bill is more or less ready for transmission to the National Assembly,” the statement quoted Gbajabiamila as saying.
“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 percent ready.
“The governors have one or two observations, and we should be ready in about a week or so.”
Onanuga said Gbajabiamila described the proposed legislation as “the most consequential bill of the administration so far”.
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He added that the bill had undergone extensive deliberations in recent weeks, following the commencement of discussions by the working group’s steering committee on August 3.
Gbajabiamila also expressed confidence that states would continue to support constitutional amendments aimed at establishing state police, despite concerns that some might delay passing the sixth constitution alteration bill.
“I see no reason why anyone will want to have a rethink on it,” he said, citing what he described as a national consensus on the need for the amendments.
According to the statement, only about six states had passed the proposed amendment out of Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
Those present at the meeting included Kwara State Governor and Nigeria Governors’ Forum Chairman AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq; Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun; Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani; and Inspector-General of Police Tunji Disu.
The proposed National Policing Bill is part of the Federal Government’s broader police reform efforts, while the constitutional amendment process is intended to provide the legal framework for states to establish their own police forces.