NEWS
BREAKING NEWS: Nigerian Senate Passes Bills to Strengthen Asset Recovery, Reform Legal Profession
BREAKING NEWS: Nigerian Senate Passes Bills to Strengthen Asset Recovery, Reform Legal Profession
…as Bill Seeks to Eestablish an Independent Agency Responsible for Recovery, Protection, Administration and Disposal of Assets Linked to Illegal Activities.
The Senate on Thursday, July 9, 2026, passed two key bills aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s anti-corruption framework and reforming the country’s legal profession, marking a significant legislative step towards improving transparency, accountability and the administration of justice.
One of the bills seeks to establish an independent agency responsible for the recovery, protection, administration and disposal of assets linked to illegal activities. Lawmakers said the proposed legislation is designed to strengthen Nigeria’s anti-corruption efforts and promote greater transparency in the management of recovered properties.
The upper chamber also approved the Legal Practitioners Act (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill, 2026, after considering and adopting the report of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters.
Both the Legal Practitioners Act (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill, 2026 (SB. 965) and the Proceeds of Crime Act (Amendment) Bill, 2026 (SB. 343) successfully scaled third reading during Thursday’s plenary session.
Presenting the committee’s reports, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Senator Adeniyi Adegbonmire, explained that the Legal Practitioners Bill is intended to repeal the existing Legal Practitioners Act, Cap. L11, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, and replace it with a modern legal framework for regulating the legal profession in line with contemporary realities.
According to him, the proposed legislation would enhance professional standards while establishing a regulatory system capable of meeting present-day demands.
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.”
Adegbonmire noted that the committee subjected the bill to extensive scrutiny because of its significance to Nigeria’s justice system.
He stressed the critical role of legal practitioners in safeguarding the nation’s democratic and judicial institutions.
“The legal profession is the guardian of the rule of law, and the primary instrument through which Nigerians access justice,“ he said.
He further stated, “The framework that governs it must be constitutionally sound, proportionate and worthy of the confidence of both the profession and the public itself.”
Speaking on the Proceeds of Crime Act (Amendment) Bill, Adegbonmire explained that the legislation seeks to address long-standing challenges associated with the management of assets recovered from criminal activities by establishing a specialised agency to oversee their recovery, preservation, administration and disposal.
According to him, the proposed agency would fill a major gap in Nigeria’s anti-corruption architecture and ensure that recovered assets are managed in the public interest.
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.“
Following consideration of the committee’s recommendations, the Senate dissolved into the Committee of the Whole, adopted the proposed amendments clause-by-clause and passed both bills through a voice vote.
Reacting to the passage of the Proceeds of Crime Act (Amendment) Bill, Senate President Godswill Akpabio said the establishment of the proposed agency would ensure that recovered assets are properly managed and preserved 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 legislation comes amid increasing concerns over the management, preservation and disposal of assets recovered by anti-corruption agencies, with stakeholders advocating a unified and transparent system to eliminate misuse, wastage and the loss of public assets.
The two bills will now be transmitted to the House of Representatives for concurrence before being forwarded to the President for presidential assent.
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