The National Assembly of Nigeria has achieved a landmark stride in environmental legislation with the passage of the Endangered Species Conservation and Protection Bill, 2024 by the Nigerian Senate. The Bill, which had earlier secured approval in the House of Representatives of Nigeria in May 2025, is now awaiting the assent of President Bola Tinubu to become law.
This legislation significantly strengthens Nigeria’s wildlife protection regime by introducing stricter penalties for offenders and equipping investigative agencies with enhanced powers. Among the key provisions, the Bill authorises financial-transaction monitoring and intelligence-led operations targeting wildlife-crime networks. It also empowers the judiciary to fast-track cases involving wildlife offences and mandates the recovery of assets from convicted offenders. International cooperation is also central, with alignment to global treaties and provisions for the extradition of suspects.
Speaking on behalf of the House Committee on Environment, Deputy Chairman Terseer Ugbor, who is also the Bill’s sponsor, described its passage as “a huge win for Nigeria, and it shows, without any doubt, that we remain committed to stamping out wildlife trafficking and protecting our unique fauna and flora.” Ugbor added that the legislation “represents a turning point for environmental protection in Nigeria,” stressing that “stronger laws mean Nigeria’s forests and wildlife will now be protected from exploitation and criminal activities.”
For years, Nigeria has been identified as a major transit hub in the illegal trade of ivory and pangolin scales to Asian and European markets. The article cites estimates linking the country to the smuggling of over 30 tonnes of ivory since 2015 and to more than half of global pangolin-scale trafficking between 2016 and 2019.
Environmental advocacy organisations praised the Senate’s action. Africa Nature Investors Foundation (ANI) Executive Director Tunde Morakinyo called the development “momentous,” noting that Nigeria had long served as a transit country for illicit wildlife exports via its “porous borders, ports, and airports.” He asserted that the Bill aims to halt that trade and restore Nigeria’s international standing.
Similarly, Environmental Investigation Agency UK (EIA UK) Executive Director Mary Rice described the passage of the Bill as “a significant milestone,” while underscoring the importance of implementation: “EIA believes firmly that long-term, sustainable change is the key to tackling environmental crime, and it is imperative that this law is now implemented and used by investigators, prosecutors and the judiciary to bring wildlife traffickers and other environmental offenders to justice.
Wild Africa CEO Peter Knights urged the President to swiftly sign the Bill. He pointed out that the global treaty body CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) will meet in November in Uzbekistan and that Nigeria’s timely enactment of this Bill would be a major feather in the country’s cap at the international level.
The article notes that the Bill’s implementation will also be supported through programmes including the GUARD Wildlife Project (funded by the European Union) and partnerships backed by the Pangolin Conservation Fund, the UK Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund, the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation, and the U.S. Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.
With Senate approval now secured and transmission to the President imminent, the passage of the Endangered Species Conservation and Protection Bill, 2024, places Nigeria on the cusp of becoming a regional leader in the global fight against wildlife crime and environmental degradation — provided the President signs the Bill into law.