The upper chamber of Nigeria’s legislature on Wednesday rejects a bill for an act to license operation and practice of private investigations in the country. The bill sponsored by Senator Osita Ngwu, was rejected by the majority of lawmakers during debate on the floor of the House. Ngwu, the Senate Minority Whip, said the bill seeks amongst others, to provide a framework for the licensing and practice of private investigators in the country, as well as provide for a system of regulation, control and conduct of the practice so as to maintain professional standards.
“The objectives of the bill include fraud prevention, detection, assessment and resolution; corporate fraud and risk management services; insurance fraud and claims investigation; aviation accident and loss investigation; marine loss investigation; occupational health and safety incident investigation; and witness location and bail bond defaulters.”
“The bill defines the scope of the profession; ensures standards; provides penalty for professional negligence; prescribes offenses for operation without license and encourages industry-based training to maintain capacity.”
Meanwhile, during debate on the bill, while the Senate Deputy Minority Leader, Senator Olalere Oyewumi, and Senator Victor Umeh supported the bill, others like senators Adams Oshiomhole, Iya Abbas, and Mustapha Saliu kicked against it, describing it as recipe for personal fight.
Conversely, the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, called on the sponsor of the bill, to withdraw it for further legislative inputs.