Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila. Photo: State House
The National Policing Bill is 90 per cent ready for transmission to the National Assembly, Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, has said.
According to a statement issued on Thursday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, Gbajabiamila gave the update after a steering committee meeting of the Presidential Working Group at the State House, Abuja.
Gbajabiamila, who chairs the Presidential Working Group on policing, said the bill would be sent to the lawmakers within two weeks after the committee concludes its deliberations.
“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.
“The governors have one or two observations, and we should be ready in about a week or so,” Gbajabiamila told journalists.
He described the proposed legislation as “the most consequential bill of the administration so far”, saying the working group’s steering 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 Sixth Constitution 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.
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice was represented by the Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Justice, Beatrice Jedy-Agba.
Other participants included Justice Abdullahi Liman (retd.), 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 representative of the Nigerian Bar Association and Assistant Inspector-General of Police Abraham Nabhon Thomas, representing the National Security Adviser, also attended.
The Presidential Working Group was inaugurated by President Bola Tinubu in July to develop the legal framework for 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.
PUNCH Online reports that the proposed National Policing Bill would provide the operational framework for recruitment, training, funding, oversight and cooperation between federal and state police services.