By Emma Ella
A total of 1,124 corruption cases have been forward
to the National Judicial Council (NJC) for speedy trial in the proposed special
corruption courts across the country.
Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter
Onnoghen, made the disclosure on Wednesday in Abuja at the formal inauguration of
the Corruption and Other Financial Crimes Cases Trials Monitoring Committee
(COTRIMCO).
The committee which is headed by a former Justice
of the Supreme Court, Justice Suleiman Galadima (rtd), apart from monitoring
the proceedings of high profile corruption cases at the various courts, is also
expected to propose practice directions that would help uproot all encumbrances
to the speedy trial of corruption cases in the courts.
Following the stance of President Muhammadu Buhari
on corruption in the country, a lot of alleged looters of the country’s
resources have been arrested and currently undergoing trials in various courts
across the country.
However, two years down the line, little or nothing
has been achieved in the prosecution of these cases in courts, prompting a
larger number of the public to allude that the judiciary is corrupt.
"As I stated recently, the society we serve
appears dissatisfied with our performance, and we must neither dismiss nor
relegate these rising criticisms as mere
sentiments or unfounded accusations devoid of substance.
"We must rise and protect the dignity and
integrity of our judicial system," he said.
The CJN stated that consequent upon this, the NJC
decided to initiate far-reaching measures that would eradicate delays in the
trials of corruption and other economic crime cases in the courts.
According to him, "We did announced that Heads
of Courts were directed to compile and submit a compendium of all corruption
cases being handled by their various divisions and I also directed them to
designate a court or more in their jurisdictions, depending on the volume of
such cases, solely for the trial of such cases.
"So far, we have received a total of 1,124
such cases reported to us from various jurisdictions across the country."
He commended the chairman and other members of the
committee for who, in spite of their numerous other engagements, accepted to
serve their fatherland through this assignment.
The CJN said their membership of the committee is
purely on merit and in recognition of their track records of service to their
fatherland as well as their contributions to the development of the nation's
law and jurisprudence.
While stressing the importance of the assignment to
the judiciary and the country at large, Onnoghen urged them to come up with
strategies that will help eliminate delays and its attendant effects on the
speedy disposal of corruption cases.
He, however, admonished both prosecution and defence
counsel to "shun all unethical antics being deployed that may result in
the delays usually experienced in the hearing and determination of corruption
cases."
While responding, Chairman of the committee,
Justice Galadima, thanked the CJN and the NJC for the confidence reposed in
them.
He assured them that given the necessary tools and
encouragement, he and his colleagues would deliver on the said task.
The committee is made up of eminent stakeholders
drawn from the Bench, Bar and civil society groups.
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