The Nigerian Senate has passed a landmark amendment to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Act, introducing life imprisonment as punishment for convicted drug traffickers.
During Thursday’s plenary session, presided over by Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin, lawmakers approved the amendment following extensive deliberations and harmonization with the House of Representatives’ version of the bill.
Tahir Monguno, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters and chair of the conference committee, presented the harmonized version to the Senate.
He explained the rationale behind adopting life imprisonment over the initially proposed death penalty.
“The adoption of life imprisonment instead of the death penalty is a more pragmatic approach, considering that implementing death sentences would affect approximately 900 individuals currently in custody for drug-related offenses,” Monguno stated.
The amended Section 11 of the NDLEA Act now reads: “Anybody who is unlawfully involved in the storage, custody, movement, carriage or concealment of dangerous drugs or controlled substances and who, while so involved, is armed with any offensive weapon or is disguised in any way, shall be guilty of an offence under this Act, and liable on conviction to be sentenced to life imprisonment.”
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Previously, there was a discrepancy between the House of Representatives’ version, which advocated for life imprisonment, and the Senate’s initial position supporting capital punishment for drug trafficking offenses.
The harmonization process involved establishing a conference committee comprising members from both chambers to reconcile these differences.
The committee’s recommendation for life imprisonment ultimately prevailed through a voice vote in the Senate.
The legislation will now proceed to President Bola Tinubu for presidential assent.
