What the National Policing Bill means for Nigeria
A plain-language guide to the reform: what is changing, how it becomes law, and the seventeen themes open for public input.
“From one federal police institution to a workable dual-policing architecture.”
Start here: the reform in brief.
The constitutional amendment on State police moves Nigeria from a single national police model to a dual police system comprising the Federal Police Service and State Police Services.
The amendment is enabling and phased. A State Police Service may exist in constitutional terms, but it cannot begin operational policing unless it is established by State law and certified as meeting national minimum standards. The National Policing Bill is proposed to be the Act that sets those standards.
Seventeen areas open for your input
Each theme is keyed to the corresponding Part of the Policy Outline.
From constitutional change to a working service.
The Constitution had to be amended before any State could run its own police service. What follows is the legislation that makes it work in practice.
Amend the Constitution
Passed by both chambers, then approved by the State Houses of Assembly.
Draft the National Policing Bill
Being drafted now, together with its schedules and national standards.
Pass it, then certify each State
States enact their own laws and must be certified before operating a service.
Submit a Memorandum
If you have a position on any of the seventeen thematic areas, you can put it on the record. Submissions are read by the teams drafting the Bill and close on 21 August 2026.
Read the source documents yourself
The Constitution, the Police Act and the call for memoranda, all available in full.
Browse resourcesOur Mandate
Who we are, and the people responsible for delivering the Bill.
About the Working Group
Our MandateTo produce a technically robust, implementation-ready draft National Policing Bill and supporting legislative package. We are building the legal and operational framework required to move from one federal police institution to a workable dual-policing architecture.
The Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill was convened to translate the constitutional amendment establishing a dual police structure, comprising the Federal Police Service and State Police Services, into a final, implementation-ready draft National Policing Bill for handover to the Federal Ministry of Justice.
Working to a seven-week programme, the Working Group is supported by a Policy Advisory Committee and a Secretariat that carries out the research, policy analysis and legal drafting behind the Bill. Public memoranda and position papers are invited before the drafting sprints conclude, so that institutional, operational, fiscal and constitutional considerations are captured while the text is still being written.
His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR
President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria
Presidential Working Group
Chaired by the Chief of Staff to the President, with eight members drawn from government, security, the legal profession and subnational government.
Policy Advisory Committee
Chaired by Justice Mohammed Abdullahi Liman, JCA (rtd.), the Committee issues drafting instructions and validates the content of the Bill.
Its membership draws from the judiciary, academia, police and security agencies, justice-sector reformists, public policy experts, technology and data experts, the National Assembly, the Office of the National Security Adviser, the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigerian Bar Association, the Nigeria Governors' Forum and State Attorneys-General. The Committee includes direct subnational perspectives, including State Attorneys-General drawn from across the six geopolitical zones.
Secretariat profiles
The Secretariat coordinates the Working Group's programme and delivers the evidence base, policy analysis, stakeholder engagement, legal audit and drafting that produce the Bill and its schedules.
What the National Policing Bill does
An executive summary of the reform, and the seventeen thematic areas on which the Working Group is inviting public input.
A dual police system, enabled and phased
The constitutional amendment on State police moves Nigeria from a single, constitutionally entrenched national police model to a dual police system comprising the Federal Police Service and State Police Services.
The amendment is enabling and phased. A State Police Service may exist in constitutional terms, but it cannot commence operational policing unless it is established by State law and certified as meeting national minimum standards in the manner prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly.
The National Policing Bill is proposed to be that Act. It should provide the operational architecture for national standards, State readiness certification, routine and special inspections, criminal information systems, data sharing, complaints, accountability, federal intervention, firearms control, grant support and transitional arrangements. It should also undertake the consequential legal conversion required, because existing federal and State legislation still assumes a single Nigeria Police Force.
The reform is proposed to be implemented through a single principal framework statute, supported by targeted repeal, re-enactment and amendment of existing legislation. A single statute with detailed schedules is preferable for the first implementation phase, because it allows standards, certification, inspection, transition and consequential amendments to be addressed in one coherent package. The Bill is expected to span twenty substantive Parts and ten Schedules.
Seventeen areas open for your input
Each theme is keyed to the corresponding Part of the Policy Outline. You need not address every theme; focused, well-substantiated submissions on one or two are preferred to broad but general commentary.
How State police becomes law
Two stages: amending the Constitution to permit State police, then passing the legislation that makes it work. The first is largely complete. The second is where this consultation sits.
Policing in Nigeria, 1861 to today
How the force was built, centralised, and is now being restructured. The reform under consultation is the latest step in a long sequence.
Nigeria is changing the way it is policed. In June and July 2026 the National Assembly passed a proposed change to the Constitution that would allow each State to run its own police service alongside a federal one. What is being changed is easier to follow with some sense of what came before.
This is a short history of policing in Nigeria: how it started, how it became a single national force, the local forces that once existed and were abolished, and the attempts at reform made along the way.
The documents behind the reform
The primary legal instruments and working documents relevant to the National Policing Bill, available to download in full.
Submit a Memorandum or Position Paper
Submissions close on 21 August 2026 at 5:00 p.m. (WAT), extended from 13 August. All submissions must be made through this portal.
Before you submit
- Your memorandum should not exceed ten pages, excluding annexes, and must be in English.
- Submit a single PDF document. Any supporting annexes should be clearly labelled, paginated and merged into the same file.
- Use OSCOLA referencing throughout, including for legislation, case law, official reports and secondary sources.
- Clearly identify the thematic area or areas you are addressing.
- State your name or institution, designation and contact details.
- Where possible, frame recommendations as specific drafting suggestions rather than general commentary.
- Disclose any institutional or professional interest relevant to your submission.
General Submission
All fields are required except the organisation, and your memorandum must be a single PDF.
Trouble submitting, upload failures, error messages or any other difficulty: email submissions@nationalpolicingbill.com to resolve any difficulty promptly.
Save this reference. You can check the status of your submission at any time.
Questions people ask
Select a question to read the answer.
Where is my submission?
Enter the reference you were given when you submitted.