By Habeeb I. Pindiga

Exiled former Liberian president, Charles Taylor, may face extradition under the new bill, as America among others, has been advocating his extradition to the International War Crimes Tribunal.
If passed into law, the legislation will confer powers on the upper chamber to ratify or reject granting of asylum to a foreigner and order the extradition of a person already on asylum upon request by the United Nations, African Union or a third country.
Section 5 of the Bill says: “When a person has been granted asylum, he shall be released immediately to either the United Nations or the African Union or any of their agencies upon application in order to answer allegations of war crimes or related crimes or for such other purposes as may be stated or revealed in the application.
“Where it is a country that has applied for the release or extradition of an asylee, it must be considered wholly in conformity with the individual standing on international laws or treaty of extradition with Nigeria.
“In the event that there is no standing law or treaty of extradition with the individual country, the asylee shall be released to such country discretionally on a resolution of the Senate.
“An application by an individual country for the extradition of an asylee shall contain in details, amongst others, as may be required by the Senate, the following: (i) Details of the nature of offences and times of commission of offence (ii) Reasons for not trying the asylee for the offence before the application (iii) Satisfactory evidence of a possible fair trial or hearing in accordance with international standards.”
Also under the new legislation, no foreigner would be granted asylum for an indefinite period, as the initial maximum period to be granted is pegged at one year but subject to periodic review of six months with the approval of the upper chamber.
Section 2 of the Bill says: “No person shall be granted asylum without the consent of the Senate.” However, section 3 says a foreigner seeking asylum may be kept in protective custody pending a Senate resolution on the request. “Where the Senate refuses to ratify the granting of asylum, the person granted asylum shall be extradited within 24 hours upon such refusal.”
The Bill also slated conditions upon which the president could grant asylum to a foreigner, including “urgency of the occasion that warranted the grant of the application without consent” and “possible envisaged consequential damage to the nation or a friendly country.”
On the review of the initial period of the asylum, the Bill says “Where it is necessary to review and extend a current period of asylum, an application for such consent must be made and considered before the expiration of seven days to the previous tenure. Failure to apply for a review within the stipulated time frame, the asylee shall be extradited on the last day of the current tenure.”