President Muhammadu Buhari has assented to the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act, 2019, to further strengthen and boost the ongoing war against corruption within and outside the country.
The President’s Senior Special Assistant on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Ita Enang, revealed this in a statement in Abuja on Friday.
According to him, the new law is meant to obtain from other countries, on reciprocal basis, mutual assistance in the prosecution of criminal matters including the location and identification of suspects, witnesses and other materials for prosecution of criminal matters.
He said that the objectives of the law include: “Identification, tracing, freezing, restraining, recovery, forfeiture and confiscation of proceeds, property and other instrumentalities of crime;
He said, Where the alleged offence is of a political character or an offence under military law or is not an offence under the laws of Nigeria, the provisions of this law shall not apply.According to the presidential aide, the law comes into effect from June 20, 2019.
