Programme on Policy Support, Legislation and Advocacy

Support the review of drug control legislation (especially on money laundering) through the federal legislative houses; training of magistrates, judicial offices and Judges. 

• Leveraging the Federal Legislature for Advocacy, Policy and Law formulation in Drug Control Programming in Nigeria.
• Strengthening the Drug Control Capacities of the Judiciary in Nigeria.

The new democratic governance in Nigeria has come after the second protracted military interregnum in 40 years of its post-colonial independence. Prior to the present dispensation, the legal instruments supporting drug control programmes were mainly 5 military decrees, namely: decree 48 of 1989 establishing the NDLEA for the prevention of cultivation, production, manufacture, trafficking and abuse of illicit drugs; decree 33 of 1990 amending decree 48 and aimed at Nigerian caught for dug offences abroad for 'bringing the name of the country to disrepute'; decree 15 of 1993 establishing NAFDAC; decree 3 of 1995 on money laundering; and decree 62 of 1999 amending previous decrees for effect within a democratic setting.

The implementation of these decrees has shown gaps in articulation, which has hampered the effectiveness of drug control programme in Nigeria. Hence, reforms of existing drug control laws and policies are a priority especially now within the democratic setting and the appropriate legislative institutions. In addition, most of the magistrates, judicial officers and Judges need to update on the drug control legal developments for effective job performance.