The Nigerian Senate has passed for second reading a landmark bill that will repeal the outdated 65-year-old Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) Act of 1959 and replace it with the modern Ministry of Finance Incorporated Act 2025.
Sponsored by Senator Sani Musa (APC, Niger East), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, the bill seeks to transform MOFI from a “dormant custodian” of federal assets into a professional, active, and transparent national investment powerhouse similar to Singapore’s Temasek ($382 billion) and Norway’s Sovereign Wealth Fund ($1.4 trillion).
Key highlights of the proposed law:
Establishes an independent, professional board with strict oversight
Mandates annual external audits and full public disclosure
Empowers MOFI to actively manage assets, invest domestically and internationally, issue bonds, securitise assets, and enter public-private partnerships
Directs investments into high-growth sectors: technology, agriculture, manufacturing, and infrastructure
Aims to end decades of lost revenue due to weak governance and passive management of federal assets
Senator Musa told the Senate: “For too long, Nigeria has left billions on the table because MOFI lacks the powers and structure to create wealth.
"This bill will change that and help us move from an oil-dependent economy to an asset-driven one.”
Senators Abdulahi Yahaya (Kebbi), Adetokunbo Abiru (Lagos), and Abdul Ningi (Bauchi) hailed the bill as “long overdue” and “landmark,” with some calling for merging it with the Sovereign Wealth Fund Act and creating a comprehensive database of all federal investments.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio referred the bill to the Senate Committee on Finance for further legislative work.If passed into law, the new MOFI is expected to become Nigeria’s most powerful state-owned investment vehicle in history.
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