Extradition Act Amendment Passes Second Reading

The amendment to the Extradition Act, 2004 was passed for a second reading in the Senate on Tuesday.

The Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele (APC, Ekiti-Central), stated in his lead debate that Sections 2 (1) and 7 (4) of the Act should be changed in the proposed legislation.

He clarified that, as opposed to solely Commonwealth nations as it is now the case, Section 2 of the Act “is amended to allow Nigeria to accede to extradition requests from countries with which Nigeria has signed an extradition treaty.”

“The present position of the Act applies only to countries within the Commonwealth and any other country with whom Nigeria establishes an extradition treaty or arrangement.”

The proposed amendment in Section 7 of the Act is “to properly set out the procedure for issuance of warrants of arrest for effective execution of extradition requests.”

About the extradition law, Opeyemi provided further details, stating that it is “the legislation that governs the process by which Nigeria can request and obtain the surrender of a person from another jurisdiction, who is accused or convicted of a criminal offence outside the requesting jurisdiction’s territory.”

He added, “The Act is today set for amendment to ensure compliance with Nigeria’s obligation to the international bodies in the fight against Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing and also to ensure the delisting of Nigeria by the International Country Risk Guide from the grey list through compliance.”

Jibrin Barau, the Deputy Senate President, oversaw the proceedings.

With a majority voice vote, the bill passed and was forwarded to the Committee on Judiciary and Human Rights.

The bill is being worked on concurrently by the Senate and the House of Representatives.