Lawmakers to make formal identification compulsory for renting apartments in Abuja

The Senate has resolved to initiate legislation that would require prospective tenants in the Federal Capital Territory to provide valid identification before renting apartments, as part of efforts to curb criminal activities.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio directed Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele to draft a bill for consideration by the National Assembly during Tuesday’s plenary. Akpabio made the request while lawmakers debated a report on the need to protect Nigerians from being trafficked to Libya for slavery.

The report was prepared by the Senate committees on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations; Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters; Foreign Affairs; and Special Duties. It was presented by Aniekan Bassey, chairman of the Senate Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.

Akpabio expressed concern that some property owners rent their premises to strangers without obtaining sufficient information about their identities, occupations or backgrounds. He argued that inadequate documentation makes it difficult for security agencies to trace suspects when crimes occur, allowing people to leave rented properties without a reliable record of who they are.

“A lot of people just give their properties to strangers. They don’t even have any papers to know where they come from. In some instances, the phone number that is used in renting the property does not even belong to the occupant of the house. So when something happens, the person will escape and then leave no trace,” he said. The Senate President urged Bamidele to consider legislation that would strengthen tenancy regulations and require landlords to verify the identities of prospective tenants.

He said some people rent properties with criminal intentions and suggested that stronger tenancy laws could help authorities trace those involved in offences such as trafficking. “People enter people’s properties with very nefarious intentions and, at the end of the day, they will just commit some crimes, traffic people’s children and make money while living in the house itself. It is something that we must tighten the laws on tenancy,” he said.

Akpabio compared the proposal to the banking sector’s Know Your Customer policy, under which financial institutions verify customers’ identities. “As you know in the bank, they say, know your customer; this one we can say, know your tenants. Let’s make the necessary law for the FCT, for instance,” he said.

He suggested that a law for the FCT could help prevent people from using rented homes to perpetrate crimes. The Senate President also proposed extending the measure to shops and other commercial premises. He said people renting such spaces should be able to provide verifiable identification, including a driver’s licence, international passport or another recognised means of identification.

According to him, reliable records would assist security agencies when investigating crimes linked to rented premises. He noted that, without such details, a property owner might be unable to identify or help locate a tenant who had left after an offence. To support his proposal, Akpabio recalled measures introduced during his time as governor of Akwa Ibom State to tackle kidnapping.

He said his administration prescribed the death penalty for kidnapping and introduced measures involving the destruction of properties used as hideouts by criminals. According to him, those measures encouraged landlords to monitor activities on their premises and report suspicious behaviour because they feared losing their properties.

He suggested that measures affecting tenancy could similarly discourage criminals from using rented apartments and commercial spaces as bases for their activities. If enacted as proposed, the legislation could place additional responsibilities on landlords and property agents in the FCT to verify prospective tenants and maintain relevant records.

Its effect would depend on the details of the bill, including the identification documents accepted, how records would be kept, how compliance would be monitored and when information could be shared with authorised agencies. The proposal could also raise questions about tenants’ privacy, the security of personal information and the possibility that people without readily available identification could be denied accommodation.

The Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 provides a framework for the lawful and secure handling of personal information. A system requiring landlords to collect and retain tenants’ identification details would need to comply with applicable data protection obligations. The proposed legislation remains at the drafting stage and would need to pass through the National Assembly’s legislative process before it could become law.