Reps recommend 20 years jail for “Economic Thieves”

The House of Representatives is seeking a 20 year-jail term for persons convicted of economic and financial crimes as part of the new amendments to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Act, 2004.

The bill, which was sponsored by Bassey Ewa, a member from Cross River state suggested a raise in the jail term to 20 years from two years as prescribed in the previous Act.
The new subsection (C) reads: “All convicted persons shall serve an imprisonment of a term not less than 20 years and have their ill-gotten property, accounts or investment confiscated by the government.”

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The lawmakers also demanded that “any company found guilty of offences under this Act, both its assets and finances shall be frozen and the company blacklisted from doing business in Nigeria for 50 years.”

The bills, alongside three other bills passed second reading, last week, at a session presided over by Speaker Yakubu Dogara.