By Okechukwu Nwanguma
On September 10, 2025, civil society actors, lawyers, media professionals, and reform advocates gathered in Abuja under the auspices of the Rule of Law and Empowerment Initiative/Partners West Africa Nigeria (PWAN), the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC), and the Network on Police Reform in Nigeria (NOPRIN).
The purpose was straightforward but urgent: to interrogate why, five years after the passage of the Police Act 2020, the Revised Police Regulations remain in limbo, awaiting gazetting.
This is not a matter of bureaucratic routine. The Police Regulations are the operational backbone of the Police Act. Without them, the Act remains partially toothless – its reforms aspirational rather than enforceable. Continuing to run Nigeria’s policing system under the colonial-era 1946 Police Regulations, alongside a modern Act, is not only contradictory but also dangerous. It leaves officers confused, reform efforts undermined, and accountability structures suspended in uncertainty.
At the meeting, participants voiced deep concern at the government’s inertia. The delay is not benign – it perpetuates outdated practices, frustrates professional policing standards, and erodes public confidence in law enforcement. Nigerians deserve a police service guided by modern rules, not relics of colonial control.
Civil society did not stop at lamentation; it charted a course of action. A 14-point strategy was adopted to break the gridlock, combining media advocacy, citizen mobilisation, town halls, coalition-building, and even peaceful protests if necessary. The Nigerian Bar Association’s litigation against the continued reliance on obsolete regulations will receive full civil society backing, while legal options such as mandamus proceedings remain on the table should the Ministry of Police Affairs continue to dither.
The message is clear: gazetting the Revised Police Regulations is not optional. It is a statutory requirement under the Police Act 2020, and the deadline for action cannot extend indefinitely. Civil society has set December 2025 as the line in the sand.
At stake is more than compliance with the law. It is about professionalising the Nigeria Police Force, restoring public trust, and ensuring accountability in a country where the relationship between citizens and police is fraught with mistrust. Every day of delay keeps Nigeria tethered to a policing framework conceived in an era that had no regard for democratic governance or human rights.
The government must act now. The Police Regulations must be gazetted without further delay. Anything less is a betrayal of reform, a mockery of the Police Act 2020, and a disservice to Nigerians who yearn for a police service worthy of its name.
