30th May, 2023
By Naomi Sharang
Key among the provisions of an amendment to the Act Establishing the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) passed on Monday by the Senate was a section which proposed two-year imprisonment with no option of fine for anyone whose petitions to the commission is found to be false or misleading.
The amendment followed the consideration of a report by the Senate Committee on Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes during plenary on Tuesday.
The committee is chaired by Sen. Suleiman Kwari (APC-Kaduna).
Before the amendment, the offence of false petition which is in section 25 of the ICPC Act attracts a fine of N100,000.
However, the amendment in section (25) (1) says “any person who makes or causes any other person to make to an officer of the commission…
“Any statement which to the knowledge of the person making the statement, or causing the statement to be made is false, or intended to mislead shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two (2) years.*
In his remarks, President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, commended the lawmakers in “the painstaking manner the report was considered.
“It is our hope that it will make ICPC better,”
(NAN)