The Senate on Thursday approved a bill aimed at creating an independent agency responsible for the recovery, protection, administration and disposal of assets connected to illegal activities, as lawmakers said the move would strengthen Nigeria’s anti-corruption efforts and promote transparency in handling recovered properties.
The upper chamber also passed the Legal Practitioners Act (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill, 2026, after adopting the recommendations of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters.
The two legislations, the Legal Practitioners Act (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill, 2026 (SB. 965) and the Proceeds of Crime Act (Amendment) Bill, 2026 (SB. 343), successfully passed third reading during plenary after senators considered the committee’s reports.
Presenting the reports, the committee chairman, Adeniyi Adegbonmire, said the Proceeds of Crime Act (Amendment) Bill was designed to address persistent challenges surrounding the management of assets recovered from criminal activities.
He explained that the proposed proceeds of crime recovery and management agency would have the responsibility of identifying, recovering, preserving and disposing of assets suspected to have been obtained through unlawful means.
According to Adegbonmire, the bill would address a major gap in Nigeria’s existing anti-corruption system.
He said, “The bill addresses a genuine and long-standing gap in Nigeria’s anti-corruption architecture. Its objectives are laudable, its need is urgent, and the committee is satisfied that, with the amendments recommended in this report, it will serve the public interest well.”
On the Legal Practitioners Bill, the committee chairman said the proposed law would repeal the existing Legal Practitioners Act, Cap. L11, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, and introduce a more modern framework for regulating the legal profession.
He noted that the legislation was intended to improve professional standards and create a regulatory structure that aligns with current realities in the legal sector.
He said, “The Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters recommends that the Senate do consider and pass the bill for an Act to repeal the Legal Practitioners Act Cap. L11, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, and enact the Legal Practitioners Act, 2025, to provide for the regulation of the legal profession in Nigeria and for related matters, subject to the observations, findings and amendments set out in this report.”
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Adegbonmire added that the committee carried out detailed reviews of the bill because of its importance to Nigeria’s justice system.
“The legal profession is the guardian of the rule of law and the primary instrument through which Nigerians access justice.
“The framework that governs it must be constitutionally sound, proportionate and worthy of the confidence of both the profession and the public itself,” he stated.
After deliberating on the reports, the Senate went into the Committee of the Whole, considered the recommendations clause by clause and approved both bills through voice votes.
Reacting to the passage of the Proceeds of Crime Act (Amendment) Bill, Senate President Godswill Akpabio said the proposed agency would provide a transparent system for managing recovered assets for the benefit of Nigerians.
“Now we have an agency that will manage those properties for the benefit of Nigerians. I also thank my colleagues for rising to the occasion and seeing the need to conclude this,” he said.
The passage of the bill follows years of concerns over how assets recovered by anti-corruption agencies are stored, maintained and disposed of.
Stakeholders have repeatedly advocated a centralised and transparent system to prevent misuse, overlapping responsibilities and the decline of recovered properties.
The two bills will now be sent to the House of Representatives for concurrence before being presented to the President for assent.