National Policing Bill 90% ready, to reach NASS in two weeks — Gbajabiamila

The National Policing Bill is 90 per cent ready for transmission to the National Assembly, with the Federal Government expected to submit it within two weeks, Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, has said.

Gbajabiamila, who chairs the Presidential Working Group on state police, disclosed this on Thursday after a steering committee meeting at the State House, Abuja.

He said the committee would hold at least one more meeting to address outstanding issues before transmitting the bill to the legislature.

“The National Policing Bill is more or less ready for transmission to the National Assembly. We will probably have one more meeting after this to cross the t’s and dot the i’s and make sure every area is covered. So, we are 90 per cent ready,” he said.

The former Speaker of the House of Representatives added that state governors had raised one or two observations that needed to be addressed before the bill could be finalised.

“The governors have one or two observations, and we should be ready in about a week or so,” he said.

Gbajabiamila described the proposed legislation as “the most consequential bill of the administration so far”, noting that it had undergone extensive deliberations since the working group’s steering committee began its work on August 3.

He also expressed confidence that state governments would support the passage of the Sixth Constitution Alteration Bill on state police, despite reports that only about six states had approved the amendment.