By Ayodele Quadri, Lagos Times Correspondent
ABUJA, NIGERIA — The Presidency has extended the deadline for the submission of public memoranda and position papers on the proposed National Policing Bill and state police framework to Friday, August 21, 2026, at 5:00 PM West Africa Time (WAT).
The announcement was made on Thursday, August 13, 2026, by Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to the President and Chairman of the Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill. The extension moves the submission window past the initial closing time of August 13 to allow civil society groups, legal practitioners, security experts, state governments, and interested members of the public adequate time to submit technically sound inputs.
Key Operational & Policy Highlights
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New Submission Window: Public and institutional submissions will remain open through the dedicated portal (nationalpolicingbill.com) until 5:00 PM WAT on Friday, August 21, 2026.
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Broader Stakeholder Consultation: The extension aims to ensure that the legislative draft incorporates exhaustive policy research, risk assessments, operational safeguards, and state readiness frameworks prior to final submission.
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Core Legislative Objectives: The National Policing Bill seeks to establish standardized administrative, operational, and funding structures for decentralized policing while embedding strict safeguards against political abuse and citizen rights violations.
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│ NATIONAL POLICING BILL EXTENDED DEADLINE MATRIX │
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│ • Announcing Authority: Femi Gbajabiamila (Chief of Staff) │
│ • Initial Deadline : Thursday, August 13, 2026 (5:00 PM WAT) │
│ • NEW Extended Date : Friday, August 21, 2026 (5:00 PM WAT) │
│ │
│ • Submission Portal : nationalpolicingbill.com │
│ • Targeted Inputs : Civil society, legal bodies, state governments, │
│ security professionals, and the general public │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘“Ensuring Substantive and Technically Sound Contributions”
“The extension is intended to provide stakeholders with additional time for thorough preparation and ensure that interested individuals, institutions and organisations have adequate opportunity to make well-considered contributions to the proposed legislation… Given the significance of the proposed reform to the future of policing and internal security in Nigeria, the working group considered it important that stakeholders are afforded more opportunity to make substantive and technically sound contributions to the process.” — Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to the President
“All submissions must be made on or before 5:00 p.m. WAT on Friday, August 21, 2026, exclusively through the official National Policing Bill portal, nationalpolicingbill.com.” — Femi Gbajabiamila
