The Nigerian Senate has passed a bill seeking to establish an agency for recovered assets, marking a significant step toward improving the country’s anti-corruption system.
The proposed legislation is designed to create an independent institution responsible for recovering, preserving, managing, and disposing of assets believed to have been obtained through unlawful activities.
The bill was approved during Thursday’s plenary after lawmakers considered and adopted the report of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters.
During the same sitting, the Senate also passed the Legal Practitioners Act (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill, 2026, which seeks to modernise the legal profession’s regulatory framework in Nigeria.
Senate backs stronger legal and anti-corruption reforms
Presenting the committee’s report, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Senator Adeniyi Adegbonmire, explained that the Legal Practitioners Bill is intended to replace the existing Legal Practitioners Act, Cap. L11, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, with legislation that reflects current realities in the legal profession.
According to him, the proposed law is expected to improve professional standards while providing a more effective regulatory structure for legal practitioners.
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 added that the committee subjected the bill to detailed examination because of its importance to Nigeria’s justice system.
“The legal profession is the guardian of the rule of law, and the primary instrument through which Nigerians access justice,” he said.
“The framework that governs it must be constitutionally sound, proportionate and worthy of the confidence of both the profession and the public itself.”
On the bill establishing the agency for recovered assets, Adegbonmire said the legislation addresses a long-standing challenge in the management of proceeds of crime by creating a dedicated institution to oversee recovered properties.
He explained that the proposed agency would be responsible for recovering, preserving, managing, and disposing of assets reasonably suspected to have been derived from unlawful activities.
The senator noted that the legislation fills an important gap within Nigeria’s anti-corruption framework and would promote greater accountability in handling recovered assets.
He stated, “The bill addresses a genuine and long-standing gap in Nigeria’s anti-corruption architecture.”
He further added, “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.”
New agency expected to improve transparency in asset management
After considering the committee’s recommendations clause by clause, the Senate dissolved into the Committee of the Whole before adopting the report and passing both bills through a voice vote.
Speaking after the approval of the Proceeds of Crime Act (Amendment) Bill, Senate President Godswill Akpabio said creating an agency for recovered assets would ensure that properties recovered from criminal activities are managed openly and 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,” Akpabio said.
The passage of the legislation comes amid growing concerns over how recovered assets have been handled by various anti-corruption agencies.
Stakeholders have repeatedly called for a centralised system to prevent duplication of responsibilities, reduce abuse, improve accountability, and protect recovered properties from deterioration.
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With Senate approval secured, both the Legal Practitioners Act (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill, 2026, and the Proceeds of Crime Act (Amendment) Bill, 2026, will now proceed to the House of Representatives for concurrence.
If approved by the lower chamber, they will be transmitted to the President for assent before becoming law.
