President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday transmitted two bills seeking to overhaul Nigeria’s drug enforcement framework and expand the investigative powers of the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau to the Senate for consideration.
The bills, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Bill 2026 and the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau Amendment Bill 2026, were forwarded to the upper chamber in separate letters addressed to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
The proposed legislation seeks to consolidate existing laws on drug-related offences and reposition the NSIB as an independent, multimodal safety investigation authority with jurisdiction beyond aviation accidents.
Both bills were transmitted pursuant to Section 58(2) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, which provides for the presentation of bills to the President for assent after passage by the National Assembly.
In his letter on the NDLEA Bill, Tinubu said the proposed legislation would repeal the existing NDLEA Act and the Indian Hemp Act and establish a consolidated legal framework for combating drug-related offences.
According to the President, the bill seeks to strengthen enforcement against the cultivation, processing, sale, trafficking and use of illicit drugs, while empowering the agency to investigate persons suspected of involvement in drug-related activities.
The letter reads: “The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Bill 2026 seeks to repeal the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act, Cap. N30, and the Indian Hemp Act, Cap. I16, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, and to enact a consolidated framework to enforce the law against the cultivation, processing, sale, trafficking and use of hard drugs.”
Tinubu urged the Senate to give the proposed legislation expeditious consideration.
Following its presentation, Akpabio referred the NDLEA Bill to the Senate Committee on Rules and Business for further legislative action.
