Gbajabiamila Announces Fresh Deadline For State Police Referendum

The Presidential Working Group on the State Police Bill has extended the deadline for stakeholders to submit memoranda and position papers on the proposed legislation.

Naija News reports that the new deadline is Friday, August 21, 2026, at 5 pm.

The extension was announced on Thursday by the Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu and Chairman of the Working Group, Femi Gbajabiamila.

The decision gives individuals, institutions and organisations additional time to submit their views on the proposed reform of Nigeria’s policing architecture.

Gbajabiamila said the extension was intended to broaden consultations and ensure that submissions on the proposed legislation were substantive and technically sound.

“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,” he said.

He said the importance of the proposed reform to Nigeria’s internal security made it necessary to give stakeholders more time to examine the issues and contribute meaningfully.

“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,” Gbajabiamila said.

The Working Group encouraged legal practitioners, civil society organisations, security-sector professionals, state governments, professional bodies, academics, experts and members of the public to participate in the consultation.

Submissions are to be made exclusively through the official National Policing Bill portal before the revised deadline.

Among the issues stakeholders are expected to consider are sustainable funding, command and control, recruitment and training standards, operational jurisdiction, inter-agency cooperation, accountability and safeguards against political interference.

“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,” Gbajabiamila added.

The proposed bill is being developed alongside efforts to amend the Constitution to provide for federal and state police services.

The Presidency has previously stated that the National Assembly must complete the constitutional amendment process before state police can be formally established.

At the end of its assignment, the Presidential Working Group is expected to produce an implementation-ready draft of the National Policing Bill for consideration by the National Assembly.

The Executive Bill package is scheduled to be presented to President Bola Tinubu for review on September 3, 2026.

The extension followed the earlier August 13 deadline, giving stakeholders an additional eight days to submit their memoranda and position papers.