Leke Baiyewu, Abuja

Twenty-four hours after the Senate mandated its Committee on Financial Crimes and Anti-Corruption to sponsor a bill seeking to give autonomy to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit within four weeks, the bill has been presented at the chamber.

The Chairman of the panel, Senator Chukwuka Utazi, presented the bill at the plenary on Thursday. The bill seeks to establish the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Agency and it passed the first reading.

The President of the Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki, said the bill would pass the second reading before the lawmakers go on annual recess next week.

He mandated the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Rules and Business, which is responsible for the schedules of legislative activities, Senator Baba Garbai, to fix the second reading of the bill for next week.

“Let us see if we can schedule for its second reading next week and do our best to see if we can pass it as quickly as possible. Chairman of the Committee on Financial Crimes and Anti-Corruption, please take note of that,” Saraki said.

The Senate panel had on Wednesday expressed its readiness to probe into the management of international grants received by the NFIU under the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

The legislature also said it would move the unit out of the commission and make it independent.

The move followed the adoption of a motion moved by Utazi titled, ‘Dire implications of the suspension of Nigeria from the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units.’

The lawmakers unanimously granted all the prayers of the motion including to make a law that would create “a substantive and autonomous Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit and make the unit legally and operationally autonomous, with powers for the employment, reward, training, promotion and discipline of its workforce independently.”

Another prayer was to urge the Executive to include in any supplementary budget estimate that might be presented to the National Assembly before the end of the year as a separate budget for the NFIU in view of the need to lift the suspension of Nigeria as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, the National Assembly’s Committee on Constitution Review has submitted its report to the Senate and House of Representatives.

Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, who is the Chairman of the committee, laid the report before the lawmakers at the plenary on Thursday.

The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, said the lawmakers would debate the recommendations of the report on Tuesday.

He said, “Thank you for keeping to your commitment to lay this report. Clerk of the Senate, as agreed, please ensure that by today before everybody leaves here, copies of this are made available so that senators can use the weekend to study the report and be ready for a robust debate on Tuesday.”

Copyright PUNCH.               
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.

Contact: [email protected]

 

Source: Punchng
We’ll pass NFIU bill next week, says Senate

The post We’ll pass NFIU bill next week, says Senate appeared first on Naijadailyfeed.