The Nigerian Senate has passed the Proceeds of Crime (Recovery and Management) Bill, 2022, seeking to provide for confiscation and forfeiture of properties derived from unlawful activities.
The Red Chamber also considered a report by the Joint Committee on AntiCorruption and Financial Crimes; Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters.
The report of the Joint Committee was presented by Senator Suleiman Abdu Kwari (APC, Kaduna North) during plenary on Wednesday.
While presenting the report, Kwari explained that the bill seeks to provide for the restraint, seizure, confiscation, and forfeiture of properties derived from unlawful activities.
The lawmaker noted that if signed into law, it would expand the mandates of existing statutory institutions to manage proceeds of crime, rather than creating a new body to carry out such function.
“The passage of the bill would facilitate the establishment of departments in relevant organisations to manage forfeited assets as well as provide for effective legal framework for the recovery of proceeds of crime.
The bill would strengthen the criminal confiscation procedure by ensuring that the total benefit from a person’s criminal activity is recovered.
It would galvanise the collaborative efforts of relevant government agencies in the implementation of confiscation proceedings against convicted persons in tracing and forfeiture of properties reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity through non-conviction based forfeiture proceedings,” Kwari added.
The Senate passed the bill after consideration by a Committee of the Whole at the upper chamber.