New Deadline for Public Input on Policing Bill Extended

The Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill has given the public eight more days to submit their memoranda and position papers on the proposed law.

The new deadline is now set for 5:00 p.m. on Friday, 21 August, instead of the earlier date of Thursday, 13 August. Femi Gbajabiamila, who heads the working group, announced this in a statement on Thursday.

Gbajabiamila, who is also the chief of staff to President Bola Tinubu, said the extension is to allow individuals, institutions, and organisations more time to prepare and send in their contributions to the proposed legislation.

In June, the National Assembly passed a law to set up state policing. This is a major reform that President Tinubu believes will help tackle the rising insecurity in Nigeria.

According to PREMIUM TIMES, the federal government revealed a seven-week roadmap. This includes a call for memoranda on how to change Nigeria from a unitary policing system to one that allows for state police.

The proposed bill aims to coordinate state police services alongside the federal police under a larger National Police Council. It also plans to introduce checks like legislative approval for state police commissioners and independent state police service commissions to manage recruitment and discipline.

While supporters of state police are hopeful about the change, some critics, including former police chiefs, warn that state governors might misuse the system. Still, this newspaper understands that the main goal of seeking public input is to address these worries.

The working group stated that the extension will help ensure that the public can provide thoughtful contributions to the new national policing system.

The proposed law is expected to create a solid operational, administrative, institutional, and funding framework. This will help in responding effectively to Nigeria’s changing security challenges.

It will also aim to ensure accountability, professionalism, and the protection of citizens’ rights.

The working group noted that the importance of these reforms makes wider public participation necessary. They encourage legal practitioners, civil society groups, security professionals, state governments, professional bodies, academics, experts, and interested members of the public to take this extra time to share their thoughts.

They identified key issues that need attention, including sustainable funding, command and control structures, recruitment and training standards, operational jurisdiction, inter-agency coordination, accountability mechanisms, and safeguards against political interference or abuse.

"These issues highlight the need for strong engagement from stakeholders in creating a framework that is effective, accountable, sustainable, and meets the specific security needs of communities across the Federation," the statement said.

All submissions should be made only through the official National Policing Bill portal before the new deadline.

The working group plans to present a final draft of the National Policing Bill, ready for implementation, at the end of its assignment.