On Wednesday, the Senate rejected a bill that aimed to set standards and conditions for the operation and practice of private investigations in the country.
Gatekeepers News reports that the piece of legislation, sponsored by Osita Ngwu (PDP, Enugu West) was rejected by the majority of lawmakers during a debate on the floor of the Red Chamber.
Earlier in his lead debate, Ngwu, who is 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.
He added that it also seeks to provide for a system of regulation, control and conduct of the practice so as to maintain professional standards.
According to him, the practice of private investigators is well established in countries like the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, and Canada.
Ngwu noted that while some private investigators are former law enforcement agents, others are former military and intelligence personnel.
The modern trend across the globe, he added, is the need to have them licensed so as to maintain ethical 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 etc.
“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.
“The bill essentially seeks to professionalise the industry and has no financial implication,” he said.
However, during the debate on the bill, while the Senate Deputy Minority Leader, Olalere Oyewumi, and Victor Umeh supported the bill, others like senators Adams Oshiomhole, Iya Abbas, and Mustapha Saliu kicked against it, describing it as a recipe for a personal fight.
President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio thereafter, called on the sponsor of the bill, to withdraw it for further legislative inputs.
