The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the police to move from ‘media slanted’ crime fighting techniques, where suspects are paraded on television and on the front pages of newspapers.
Presenting a communiqué issued at the end of the NBA Criminal Justice Reform Conference, which held from July 17-20, the NBA president, Mr. Joseph Daudu (SAN), noted that after such initial furore, nothing more was usually heard about the process of concrete prosecution.
Daudu added that at the end of the whole exercise, “the case is dismissed on account of the absence of genuine and conscientious prosecution, preceded by proper investigation.”
The NBA stated that the conference was necessitated by the growing crisis in the administration of criminal justice in the country.
The association’s president said that this was evident from the increased cases of corruption, kidnapping and terrorism and other, new forms of criminal activity.
Other issues that spurred it to organise the conference, he said, included the failure to bring culprits to book.
“The primary goal of the conference was for it to act as a catalyst in the transformation of the systems and institutions for guaranteeing public safety and security, through bringing together criminal justice practitioners, experts and academics from within and outside Nigeria.
“It also involved bringing operators of the various institutions of criminal justice at both the state and federal levels, including policy makers and legislators, to deliberate on the problems afflicting the administration of criminal justice in Nigeria.
“It is hoped that government and her institutions at all levels world make criminal justice delivery central to the defence of public safety and security in Nigeria.”
The NBA however noted that there are over 10 justice sector-related bills pending before the Senate and House of Representatives at different stages of legislative process.
It said the failure to pass these bills into law was adversely affecting the machinery of justice in Nigeria and called on the national legislators to pass the bills as a matter of urgency.
Daudu however expressed concern over the absence of President Goodluck Jonathan at the Criminal Justice Reform Conference, organised by the association to address the perceived growing crisis in the administration of criminal justice in the country.
He said he personally took the letter of invitation to the Villa and presented it to the president, but to his surprise, the number one citizen of the country neither sent a representative to the opening ceremony of the conference, nor sent an apology later.
The NBA further said that the inspector-general of police, Mr. Hafiz Ringim, who is highly relevant in criminal justice system administration in the country, also failed to grace the conference’s opening ceremony.
“I took the invitation to the Villa and gave the invitation to the president personally, but I am surprised that he failed to attend or show interest by sending a representative or an apology thereafter,” Daudu said.
Daudu also said he disagreed in entirety with the call by the attorney-general of the federation and the minister of justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke (SAN) to merge the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Commission (ICPC), saying it was borne out of the AGF’s desire to control the two institutions.
“Is the inefficiency of the anti-graft agencies due to the similarities of their functions or due to leadership failure and the underfunding of these agencies?” Daudu asked.
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