Secretary of the Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill, Dubem Moghalu, has said the proposed National Policing Bill will provide the legal and operational framework required to implement state policing in Nigeria, stressing that the ongoing constitutional amendment alone cannot establish or operationalise state police.
Speaking at the ARISE News Town Hall on State Police and National Security, Moghalu said the committee responsible for drafting the National Policing Bill had only recently begun its work following its inauguration by the Presidency.
“I want to thank the ARISE Group for the opportunity to participate in this town hall on National Policing and National Security. I also bring the greetings and best wishes of the Chief of Staff to the President, His Excellency, the Right Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, who would have loved to be here today but is unavoidably absent due to prior engagements,” he said.
Responding to questions on the progress of the National Policing Bill, Moghalu said the Presidential Working Group was inaugurated just two days earlier and is chaired by the Chief of Staff to the President.
“Two days ago, the Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill was inaugurated. It is chaired by the Chief of Staff to the President and includes the National Security Adviser, the Attorney General of the Federation, the Governors of Kwara and Ogun states—who serve as Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and Chairman of the NGF Committee on State Police respectively—the Nigerian Bar Association and, of course, the Inspector General of Police.”
He explained that while the constitutional amendment currently before the National Assembly creates the legal pathway for state policing, it does not, on its own, establish a state police system.
“The constitutional amendment that has passed the Senate and is progressing through the legislative process is an establishment document. It creates the constitutional pathway for state policing, but it does not expressly initiate state policing in the country.”
According to Moghalu, the National Policing Bill will provide the operational framework needed to make state policing functional across the country.
“For us to operationalise state policing, to put in place the infrastructure, establish national minimum standards for recruitment and training, and address issues relating to cooperation between the different state police services and the federal police, all of these questions will have to be resolved in the National Policing Bill that is now being drafted.”
He added that Nigeria’s existing constitutional and legal architecture was designed around a single national police force, making broader legislative reforms necessary.
“We also have to understand that the entire architecture of our Constitution and our national security laws exists on the assumption of a unitary police system. Amending the Constitution and enacting a National Policing Bill are only two steps. Several consequential amendments will still have to be made to ensure that the entire body of our laws reflects a dual policing system.”
Addressing questions about international policing models, Moghalu said the committee was deliberately avoiding copying any foreign system wholesale, insisting Nigeria’s policing framework must reflect its unique realities.
“One of the things we are trying to avoid is a copy-and-paste approach. Throughout this town hall, many speakers have referred to the American policing model, with federal, state and local police structures. We are not trying to recreate the American policing model in Nigeria.”
“What we are trying to do is to develop our own dual policing system that reflects our realities, our concerns and the challenges we are trying to address.”
He explained that policing evolved differently in countries such as the United States, making direct comparisons inappropriate.
“In the United States, policing evolved from communities upwards. There is no federal police in the way many people assume. What exists at the federal level is the Federal Bureau of Investigation, because policing developed from local communities before expanding.”
He said Nigeria’s circumstances are fundamentally different because the country already operates a centralised policing structure.
“What we have here is a federal policing structure already in place, and we are now trying to move from that unitary system to a dual policing system. We must therefore take best practices from other jurisdictions without simply adopting their systems and expecting them to work in our own environment.”
Moghalu maintained that the reforms would be tailored to Nigeria’s constitutional framework and security realities to ensure an effective and sustainable state policing system.
Boluwatife Enome
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