President Muhammadu Buhari on 13th May 2022, assented to three bills – Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) bill 2022, Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) bill 2022 and the Proceeds of Crime (Recovery and Management) bill 2022.
It will be recalled that the House of Representatives passed these three bills alongside two others in an emergency session on 4th May 2022, while the Senate had passed these bills earlier, following the President’s request in January 2022 for their passage. According to the President, the three new Acts are geared towards strengthening Nigeria’s framework on Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT).
The Money Laundering Act 2022 provides a legal and institutional framework for preventing, detecting, prosecuting and punishing money laundering offences. It also establishes the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML) under the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for implementation of the provisions of the Act as it relates to non-financial businesses and professions.
The Proceeds of Crime Act 2022 provides a legal and institutional framework for the recovery and management of proceeds of crime and benefits derived from unlawful activities and unclaimed property suspected to be proceeds of crime. The provisions of the Act shall be enforced by organisations listed in it as relevant organisations, which are expected to establish a Proceeds of Crime (Management) Directorate to manage properties forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The Terrorism Act 2022 provides a legal, regulatory and institutional framework for preventing, detecting, prosecuting and punishing acts of terrorism, terrorism financing, proliferation and financing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in Nigeria.
PLAC has in previous editions of LEGIST, reviewed these bills, pointing out a few concerns.