President Bola Tinubu has transmitted a bill to the Senate looking for to empower the Nigerian authorities to enter into agreements with different international locations for the transfer of convicted Nigerian residents to serve their sentences in Nigeria.
The bill seeks to amend the Transfer of Convicted Offenders Enactment and Enforcement Act, 2004, to facilitate the transfer of convicted offenders between Nigeria and different international locations underneath mutual agreements.
Mr Tinubu transmitted the bill to the Senate in a letter learn by Senate President Godswill Akpabio throughout plenary on Tuesday.
In the letter, the president mentioned the proposed laws would empower the Nigerian authorities to enter into agreements with different international locations for the transfer of convicted offenders to Nigeria.
He additionally mentioned the laws would allow Nigeria to honour related requests from international governments, topic to the phrases of the agreements.
“The Transfer of Convicted Offenders Enactment and Enforcement Amendment Bill 2026 seeks to amend the Transfer of Convicted Offenders Enactment and Enforcement Act, Act Cap 216, Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004, to give effect to the provisions of any scheme or agreement for the transfer of convicted offenders between the Federal Government of Nigeria and the government of any other country,” Mr Tinubu mentioned.
He added that the bill would empower the president, via an order printed within the Federal Gazette, to apply the regulation to any nation with which Nigeria had entered into such an settlement.
According to him, this is able to facilitate the implementation of agreements with international locations outdoors the Commonwealth.
After studying the president’s letter, Mr Akpabio referred the bill to the Senate Committee on Rules and Business for additional legislative consideration.
Nigerian convicted abroad
Nigeria has had a number of instances involving public officers and political figures convicted by international courts. Among them is former Delta State Governor James Ibori, who was sentenced to 13 years in jail within the United Kingdom in 2012 after pleading responsible to cash laundering offences. He was launched in 2016.
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Former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu was sentenced to 9 years and eight months in jail within the UK in 2023 for his position in an organ-trafficking conspiracy involving a younger man.
Similarly, Abidemi Rufai, a former aide to Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun, was sentenced to 5 years in jail within the United States in 2022 for wire fraud and aggravated identification theft.
Nigeria and the United Kingdom have already got a prisoner-transfer settlement that gives for eligible prisoners to serve their sentences of their home international locations, topic to the relevant circumstances and the settlement of each governments.
The proposed modification seeks to present a authorized framework for implementing prisoner-transfer agreements with international locations outdoors the Commonwealth. However, the proposed laws wouldn’t routinely entitle each Nigerian convicted abroad to be transferred home, as eligibility would depend upon the related settlement and its circumstances.
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