House Passes Proceeds of Crime Bill

James Emejo in Abuja

The House of Representatives has passed the Proceeds of Crime Bill.
The legislation provides a legal and institutional framework for the confiscation, seizure, forfeiture, recovery and management of assets or proceeds derived from unlawful activities, including instrumentalities used or intended to be used in the commission of unlawful activities.

Sponsored by the Chairman, House Committee on Financial Crimes, Hon. Kayode Oladele (APC, Ogun), it further seeks to harmonise and consolidate the existing legal frameworks and establish a central agency to manage the proceeds recovered from illegally acquired properties.

Mr. Godwin Iheabunike of the Federal Ministry of Justice had canvassed for the passage of the bill, which he described as a product of far reaching consultations and collaborations with stakeholders and development partners all in a bid to ensure that its provisions are in conformity with global best practices while also meeting Nigeria’s legal framework for rule of law.
He said if properly applied, the system that is envisaged will create a comprehensive toolbox of measures designed to effectively remove the proceeds of criminality from criminals.

Iheabunike:”It will allow for a full financial investigation of the criminal and criminally acquired proceeds.

“The limitations of criminal forfeiture including the fact that the sentencing process is an inappropriate forum to confisticate all crime-tainted property informs recent trends in some jurisdictions that incline to civil forfeiture process.

“Civil forfeiture represents the second generation of modern forfeiture laws. It is obvious that the in rem character of civil forfeiture which avoids the need to prove a persons guilt beyond a reasonable doubt would have an obvious appeal to policy-makers.”
An International lawyer, Mr. Akinwole Ogunlola, praised Oladele and the lower chamber for passing the bill before proceeding on recess.
He noted that when signed into law, the bill would supersede the controversial Executive Order Number 6 of 2018 on the Preservation of Suspicious Assets Connected with Corruption, which was recently signed by the President on the same subject-matter and raises a lot of constitutional and due process questions.

Furthermore, Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, had severally stressed the urgent passage of the bill which would greatly assist the government in its anti-corruption campaign.

The bill had also scaled through second reading in the Senate and is awaiting consideration by Committee of the Whole.

The House version of the bill, which is similar to the Senate’s will be transmitted to the red chamber for concurrence in order to fast track its passage and transmission to the President for his assent, a source told THISDAY.

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