President Bola Tinubu has transmitted two bills to the Senate looking for to strengthen the enforcement of drug-related offences and reposition the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) as an independent, multimodal security investigation authority.
The bills search to repeal and re-enact the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Act and the Indian Hemp Act, in addition to amend the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (Establishment) Act, 2022.
Mr Tinubu transmitted the bills to the Senate in separate letters learn by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, throughout plenary on Tuesday.
He transmitted the bills pursuant to Section 58(2) of the Nigerian Constitution.
NDLEA Bill
In his letter on the proposed NDLEA laws, Mr Tinubu mentioned the invoice seeks to repeal the prevailing NDLEA Act and the Indian Hemp Act and set up a consolidated authorized framework for combating drug-related offences.
He mentioned the proposed laws would strengthen enforcement in opposition to the cultivation, processing, sale, trafficking and use of illicit medicine. It would additionally empower the company to examine individuals suspected of involvement in drug-related actions.
“The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Bill 2026 seeks to repeal the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act, Cap. N30, and the Indian Hemp Act, Cap. I16, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, and to enact a consolidated framework to enforce the law against the cultivation, processing, sale, trafficking and use of hard drugs,” the president mentioned.
Mr Tinubu urged the lawmakers to give the invoice expeditious consideration.
After studying the letter, Mr Akpabio referred the invoice to the Senate Committee on Rules and Business for additional legislative motion.
Nigeria stays a supply, transit and vacation spot nation for illicit medicine, with trafficking networks dealing in substances starting from hashish and cocaine to methamphetamine and different artificial medicine.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in its 2025 evaluation, reported that methamphetamine manufacturing capability in Nigeria had elevated by greater than 40 per cent since 2020. The report additionally highlighted rising seizures of artificial medicine throughout West Africa and the area’s persevering with position as a transit hall for cocaine trafficking between Latin America and Europe.
Despite enforcement operations, the size of the commerce stays a problem for Nigerian authorities. The NDLEA mentioned it arrested greater than 18,500 suspected drug offenders and seized over 2.6 million kilograms of illicit substances in 2024.
If the proposed invoice is handed, its effectiveness would rely not solely on the scope of the brand new regulation but additionally on the company’s capability to examine and prosecute offenders, disrupt trafficking networks, safe the nation’s borders and ports, and tackle the monetary proceeds of the illicit commerce.
NSIB Amendment Bill
In a separate letter, Mr Tinubu transmitted the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (Amendment) Bill 2026, looking for to amend the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (Establishment) Act, 2022.
The proposed laws seeks to reposition the bureau as an independent, multimodal security investigation authority.
Under the proposed modifications, the bureau’s mandate would lengthen past aviation accidents and incidents to cowl occurrences involving rail, maritime and different modes of transportation.
The invoice additionally seeks to switch supervisory oversight of the bureau to the Presidency and strengthen its institutional, operational and administrative powers.
The president urged the Senate to take into account the proposed laws.
The senate president subsequently referred the invoice to the Senate Committee on Rules and Business for additional legislative motion.
The proposed modification to the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) Act comes amid agitation and the necessity for credible, independent investigations into transportation accidents and critical incidents.
The NSIB, previously often known as the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), investigates transportation accidents to set up their circumstances and possible causes and advocate measures to forestall related incidents. Its investigations are meant to enhance security fairly than decide felony legal responsibility or apportion blame. The bureau’s mandate extends to aviation, maritime and rail transportation.
Repositioning the bureau as an independent, multimodal investigation authority may strengthen its means to examine accidents with out undue affect from establishments whose actions or oversight tasks could also be related to an investigation.
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It may additionally assist enhance public confidence in investigation findings, assist the implementation of security suggestions and promote accountability throughout the transportation sector.
However, the sensible implications will rely upon the ultimate provisions of the invoice, notably these governing the bureau’s monetary autonomy, appointment of its management, entry to proof, publication of investigative stories and safety from interference.
Although the proposed invoice seeks to switch supervisory oversight to the Presidency, the extent to which this association would assure operational independence will rely upon the safeguards established by the laws. Independence in accident investigation doesn’t take away the accountability of regulators, transport operators or regulation enforcement businesses to act on findings inside their respective mandates.
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