Reps pass Safety Investigation Bureau amendment bill through second reading

The House of Representatives on Thursday passed the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (Amendment) Bill, 2026, through second reading. The bill seeks to reposition the Bureau as an independent multimodal safety investigation authority.

The proposed legislation seeks to amend the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (Establishment) Act, No. 35, 2022, to extend the Bureau’s responsibilities beyond aviation to cover rail, maritime and other transport-related incidents.

The amendment also seeks to transfer supervisory oversight of the Bureau to the Presidency and strengthen its institutional, operational and administrative mandates. If enacted, the legislation would broaden the Bureau’s investigative responsibilities, enabling it to examine safety occurrences across different transport modes rather than concentrating primarily on aviation incidents.

As stipulated in the bill, President Bola Tinubu proposed amendments to the long title, Part II, and Sections 7, 8, 11, 13, 21, 22, 40, 61 and 66, as well as the short title of the Act.

The bill proposes changes to several provisions of the principal Act, particularly those requiring ministerial recommendations or routing official processes through a minister, in a move intended to enhance the Bureau’s independence and efficiency.

Specifically, it seeks to remove the requirement for ministerial recommendations in the appointment of certain officials and eliminate provisions requiring some administrative processes to be conducted through the minister.

The proposed amendment also provides for the appointment of directors with technical or specialised knowledge relevant to the Bureau’s functions to assist the Director-General in carrying out its responsibilities.

Under the proposed arrangement, the Bureau’s board may appoint such directors on the recommendation of the Director-General, with the appointments formalised through appropriate instruments.

The bill further proposes amendments to provisions relating to the Bureau’s fund, including a requirement for it to submit copies of the fund’s report and audited accounts, alongside the auditor’s report, to the National Assembly.

The proposed changes are expected to strengthen legislative oversight and accountability in the management of the Bureau’s finances by ensuring that relevant financial reports are submitted directly to the National Assembly.

The bill also requires the Bureau to submit to the National Assembly a copy of the report and audited accounts of the fund, as well as the auditor’s report referred to in subsection (1).

Another major provision seeks to amend sections of the existing law by replacing references to the minister with the President, thereby altering the authority associated with specified administrative and institutional responsibilities.

The bill also proposes amendments to provisions governing the Bureau’s functions and administration, including changes to terminology in the existing Act to reflect the revised institutional framework.

The proposed legislation also makes a technical amendment to the existing law by replacing the reference to a ‘rail vehicle’ with ‘vessel’ in a provision relating to the Bureau’s scope of responsibility.

According to the explanatory memorandum, the proposed amendments are intended to reposition the Bureau as an independent multimodal safety investigation authority and strengthen its institutional, operational and administrative mandates.