Members of the 10th House of Representatives, on Wednesday, adopted the report on a bill which seeks to establish Chartered Institute of Auctioneers (CIAN), 2024.

The proposed legislation was adopted at the Committee of the Whole on Tuesday, 2nd June, 2024, which was presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Benjamin Kalu.

During the session, the lawmakers unanimously adopted Clauses 1 to 23, the Schedules, the Explanatory Memorandum, and the Long Title of the bill.

The bill will be slated for Third Reading at the next legislative day to be determined by the House Committee on Rules and Business.

In line with extant legislative practice and convention, the House is expected to transmit the bill to the Senate for concurrence.

Recall that both Chambers unanimously passed the bill through Third Reading during the 8th and 9th sessions of the National Assembly but was not assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari.

According to the bill seen by Nigerian Tribune, the lawmakers approved Clause 19 of the bill which stipulates offences and punishments.

Clause 19(1) provides that: “if any person, for the purpose of procuring the registration of any name, be qualification or other matter: (a) make a statement which he believes is false in a material particular, or (b) recklessly makes a statement which is false in a material particular, he shall be guilty of an offence.”

Clause 19(2) also stipulated that: “(2) If on or after the relevant date, any person who is not a trained Auctioneer and registered by a known auctioneering body member practices or holds himself out as an Auctioneer for or in expectation of reward or takes or uses any name, title, addition or description, implying that he is practicing Auctioneer, he shall be guilty of an offence, provided that, in the case of a person falling within section 17 of this Bill: (a) this subsection shall not apply in respect of anything done by him during the period of three months mentioned in that section; and (b) if within that period his duty applies for membership of the Institute, then, unless within the period he is notified that his application has not been approved, this subsection shall not apply in respect of anything done by him between the end of that period and the date on which he is enrolled or registered or notified as aforesaid.”

Clause 19(3) further provides that: “If the Registrar or any other person employed by or acting on behalf of the Institute willfully makes any falsification in any matter relating to the Register, he shall be guilty of an offence. (2) Apperson guilty of an offence under this section is liable: a) on summary conviction, to a fine of an amount not exceeding N50,000; b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine of an amount not exceeding N100,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to both such fine and imprisonment.

“(3) Where an offence under this section has been committed by a body corporate or is proven to have been committed with the consent or connivance, or attributable to any neglect on the part of any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate or any person purporting to act in any such capacity, he as well as the body corporate, shall be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be prosecuted and punished accordingly.

“(4) In this section, ‘the relevant date’ means the third anniversary of the appointed date or such earlier date as may be prescribed for the purpose of this section by order of the Ministry published in the Federal Government Gazette.”