TECHNOCRAT MEDIA, Abuja
Tolu Ogunlesi, special assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on digital and new media says the president has signed into law the highest number of consequential bills than any past president.
Mr Ogunlesi described the bills as high-impact-reform legislative bills by any Nigerian President.
The bills include:
Nigeria Police Act, 2020 – the first comprehensive reform of Police legislation since the Police Act of 1943
Nigerian Correctional Service Act, 2019 – like the new Police Act, this was the first comprehensive reform of prison legislation in almost five decades (the previous Prisons Act dated back to 1972).
The Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), 2021 – was finally accomplished almost 20 years after reform attempts commenced.
Climate Change Act, 2021 – one of the first by any African country.
The Not Too Young To Run Act, 2018.
Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts Act, 1993 (Amendment Act, 2019).
Others include:
Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) Act, 2019 – the first according to him, dedicated mergers and competition legislation in Nigeria’s history.
Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) Establishment Act, 2018. Prior to that time in 2018, the NCDC did not have enabling legislation.
Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act, an Executive Bill, 2019, and the Nigeria Police Trust Fund Act, 2019.
New Companies & Allied Matters Act (CAMA), 2020 – the first comprehensive reform of the Act since 1990.
Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, 2018 which led to the establishment of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD).
Mr Ogunlesi also included the Suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offences Bill, 2019 – the first omnibus, dedicated anti-piracy legislation in West Africa and the Gulf of Guinea; a Bill to grant financial autonomy to States’ Houses of Assembly and States’ Judiciary (2018); New Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020 – the one he said replaces a 30-year-old version; and the Finance Acts 2019, 2020, 2021 – special fiscal reform legislation to accompany annual national budgets which Mr Ogunlesi described as unprecedented in Nigeria’s history.
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