Key Takeaways
- President Bola Tinubu has sent the Senate an amendment bill to expand Nigeria’s legal framework for transferring convicted offenders to and from non-Commonwealth countries.
- The bill would allow the President, through an order in the Federal Gazette, to extend the existing Act to countries with prisoner-transfer agreements with Nigeria.
- Tinubu urged senators to consider the bill urgently, but it must pass through the National Assembly’s legislative process before it can become law.
President Bola Tinubu has forwarded a bill to the Senate to expand Nigeria’s legal framework for transferring convicted offenders to and from non-Commonwealth countries.
Naija News reports that the Transfer of Convicted Offenders (Enactment and Enforcement) Amendment Bill, 2026, was included in a letter the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, read on the Senate floor on Tuesday.
The proposed legislation seeks to amend the Transfer of Convicted Offenders (Enactment and Enforcement) Act, Cap. T16, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
Under the bill, the President can extend the Act’s provisions, through an order in the Federal Gazette, to any country with which Nigeria has signed a prisoner-transfer agreement.
Tinubu explained that the amendment would give effect to any scheme or deal the Federal Government reaches with foreign governments on the movement of convicted persons.
The President said the bill would provide a legal basis to implement such agreements with countries outside the Commonwealth, giving Nigeria more room to negotiate and enforce prisoner-exchange arrangements.
