The Presidential Working Group on the National Police Bill has extended the deadline for submitting memoranda and position papers on the proposed legislation until Friday, August 21, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. West Africa Time.
In a statement signed by Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to the President and Chairman of the Presidential Working Group, the group stated that the extension was intended to provide interested individuals, institutions, and organizations with adequate opportunity to make substantive contributions to the proposed legislation.
“The Presidential Working Group is committed to ensuring that the process of developing the National Policing Bill benefits from broad consultation and the informed perspectives of Nigerians and relevant stakeholders,” the statement read.
The proposed legislation aims to establish the operational, administrative, institutional, and funding frameworks required for an effective policing architecture that responds to Nigeria’s changing security needs, while also ensuring accountability, professionalism, and the protection of citizens’ rights.
“Given the significance of the proposed reform to the future of policing and internal security in Nigeria, the Working Group considers it important that stakeholders are afforded more opportunity to make substantive and technically sound contributions to the process,” the statement said.
According to the former lawmaker, legal practitioners, civil society organizations, security sector professionals, state governments, professional bodies, academics, experts, and interested members of the public should take advantage of the extended window to submit their memoranda and position papers on or before the new deadline, which is exclusively thru the official National Policing Bill portal, nationalpolicingbill.com.
According to him, creating an effective policing framework necessitated careful consideration of a number of critical issues, including long-term funding, command and control structures, recruitment and training standards, operational jurisdiction, inter-agency coordination, accountability mechanisms, and safeguards against political interference or abuse.
“These considerations underscore the importance of robust stakeholder engagement in developing a framework that is effective, accountable, sustainable and responsive to the peculiar security needs of communities across the federation,” he added.
He stated that at the end of its assignment, the Presidential Working Group will produce a final, implementation-ready draft of the National Policing Bill for further parliamentary consideration.
The Presidential Working Group thanked stakeholders who had previously submitted proposals and encouraged those who planned to engage in the process to take advantage of the extension.
The National Policing Bill portal became live on August 3, 2026, when Gbajabiamila announced the public comment window during a press event on the reform, noting that contributions would conclude in approximately two weeks.
On September 3, 2026, the Working Group is slated to give President Bola Tinubu with the full Executive Bill package for assessment.
