The Senate on Tuesday, 14 July 2020, passed the Bill seeking to amend the Criminal Code Act, 2004 by deleting the statute of limitations on defilement, providing stiffer penalties for offences of kidnapping and removing gender restrictions on rape offences.

Presenting the report on the Bill, the Chairman, Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Sen. Michael Opeyemi Bamidele (APC: Ekiti), noted that the legislative framework adopted by the Committee to include organising a consultative meeting to seek the views of stakeholders as well as the consideration of the submissions of lawmakers during the debates on the Bill.

Speaking on the highlights of the Bill, Sen. Bamidele explained that the proposition to delete the statute of limitation placed on defilement and rape under section 218 and 221; amend the words “idiot” or “imbecile” in section 221  and amend the definition of rape in section 357 to include the male gender was laudable even though he noted that a cross-section of stakeholders opposed the proposed amendment to the Bill based on the following;

• That the statute of limitation regarding the prosecution of the offence of defilement is provided for in section 45(1) and (2) of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition)(VAPP) Act, 2015;
• That gender neutrality issues for cases of rape and defilement has been addressed in section 1(1)(a) of the VAPP Act, 2015;
• That the National Assembly do not have the constitutional powers to legislate on crimes which do not fall within the Exclusive Legislative List. Therefore, the National Assembly do not have the powers to amend the State’s Criminal Code and Penal Codes.

According to Sen. Bamidele, following from the Committee’s analysis and aforementioned submissions from stakeholders on the Bill, the Committee agreed as follows:

• That the applicability of the VAPP Act, 2015, in respect to the statute of limitation for cases of rape and defilement is restricted and cannot be applied in all instances;
• That the Criminal Code Act which is an Act of the National Assembly can be subjected to modifications and amendments in line with section 315 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended);
• That contrary to the views that the passage of the Bill by the National Assembly will usurp the powers of the States to legislate on the matter, the Bill seeks to amend the Criminal Code Act of 1916 and not the Criminal Code Law of the States; and
• That the Bill when signed into law, will apply to the Federal High Courts in the Southern part of the country where the Criminal Code Act 2004 is applicable.

Sen. Bamidele further urged the Senate to consider and approve the recommendations therein.

During the consideration of the Committee’s report, the Senate resolved to make the punishment for the offence of kidnapping more stringent in order to deter perpetrators of the crimes by amending Clause 7, section 364 (2) of the Bill to read “ is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for life except where such kidnapping leads to death of the kidnapped, the kidnapper is liable to death if found guilty”  before its passage.

Click here to view the full report of the Committee