President Muhammadu
Buhari, on Wednesday, forwarded to the senate, two new bills meant to
effectively tackle the menace of money laundering in the country.
The first bill is titled,” Money Laundering Prevention and
Prohibition Bill 2016″ while the second one is
“Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Bill 2016.”
“Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Bill 2016.”
The president’s request was contained in the letter he
addressed to the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and read during plenary.
Buhari said that the proposed bill provides for the repeal
of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2011, as amended in 2012.
He added that the proposed money laundering bill also
seeks to provide adequate penalty for money laundering activities as well as
increasing the scope of anti-money laundering agencies.
The letter read, “This (Money Laundering Prevention and
Prohibition) Bill seeks to make comprehensive provisions to prohibit the
laundering of the criminal activities, expand the scope of money laundering
offences.
“It seeks to provide protection for employees of various
institutions, bodies and professions who may discover money laundering, enhance
customer due diligence.
“It provides appropriate penalties and expands the scope
of supervisory bodies. It also recognizes the role of certain self-regulatory
organisations to address the challenges faced in implementation of
comprehensive anti-money regime”.
He also said that, the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal
Matters Bill 2016 seeks to get relevant international assistance in cases of
money laundering.
According to Buhari, the Bill is expected to provide
framework for other countries to assist in provision and obtaining of evidence,
making of arrangements for persons to give evidence.
The bill, he added, also seeks to get international
assistance in criminal investigations, recovery, forfeiture or confiscation of
property in respect of offences.
He said the proposed law also sought assistance in “the
restraining of dealings in property or the freezing of assets that may be
recovered, forfeited or confiscated in respect of offences”
Other issues that the proposed law will address
according to Buhari are, the execution of request for search and seizure, the
location and identification of witnesses and suspects, the service of documents
and other matters connected herewith.
Buhari recently visited the United Arab Emirate, where he
signed an agreement with the government of the Emirate on repatriation of the
nation’s stolen funds.
The agreement, Mutual Legal Assistance on Criminal and
Commercial Matters, is expected to also allow the UAE government returns monies
hidden or invested in banks and real estates in the country to Nigeria.
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