President Tinubu signs Defence Industries Corporation Act 2023 into law

*The Federal Government says the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria Act 2023 has repealed the previous iteration of the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria Act, and empowers DICON to perform a number of assigned regulatory responsibilities

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has signed the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) Act 2023 into law.

ConsumerConnect reports the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria was established August 1, 1964, by an Act of Parliament, and it was revised as the DICON Act in Chapter 94 of the Laws of the Federation 2004.

Chief Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, in a statement issued Thursday, November 23, 2023, noted the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria Act 2023 has repealed “the previous iteration of the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria Act and empowers the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria” to do the following:

(1) Operate, maintain, and control subsidiaries and ordnance factories to manufacture, store, and dispose of ordnance and ancillary stores and material.

(2) Establish the Defence Industry Technology, Research, and Development Institute (DITRDI) to create an elaborate scientific and research-based technological foundation for Nigeria’s defence industry through the leveraging of combined, multi-disciplinary research from multiple military research institutes for application that leads to commercialisation and the development of new military technology and capacity in Nigeria.

(3) Provide a comprehensive regulatory framework for the regulation of the manufacturing, distribution, storage, and disposal of defence articles in Nigeria.

(4) Incentivise the development of a nuanced financing architecture that enables private capital to facilitate research, development, and production in the Defence sector in a transparent and predictable fashion.

The Presidential media aide stated Hon. Babajimi Benson (Ikorodu Federal Constituency, Lagos), Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Defence, had sponsored the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria Bill, 2023, in the National Assembly (NASS), Abuja, FCT.