President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday called on the judiciary arm of government to put its house in order for the present administration to successfully fight corruption in the country.
According to him, judicial delays are working against the anti-graft battle.
He spoke in Abuja while declaring open a workshop on the “Roles of Judiciary in the fight corruption” organized by the Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption in collaboration with National Judicial Institute (NJI), Commonwealth Secretariat and UNODC.
Buhari pointed out that some defence lawyers and prosecutors are using delay, which he said was frustrating his administration ongoing crusade against corruption.
An efficient and fair judiciary whose job is to provide fundamental checks on public institutions, he said, is key to the success of all anti-corruption initiatives.
He said: “Now, in carrying out its role in the fight against corruption, the judiciary must remain impartial and most importantly, be seen to be impartial.
“It is incumbent on the judiciary to analyze facts based on the applicable law without prejudice and penchant regarding the case they are dealing with, and without acting in any way that would favor the interests of any of the parties.
“Where judicial corruption occurs, the damage can be pervasive and extremely difficult to reverse.
“It undermines citizens’ morale, violates their human rights, harms national development and depletes the quality of governance.
“Judges should hear and handle their assigned cases without any external pressure or influence either by state powers, or by their hierarchical superiors, stakeholders or economic interest groups.
“The Judiciary must take steps to ensure that it is not seen as being partisan. Hence, Judicial Officers and all other members of this profession must always demonstrate manifest integrity,” he added.
Buhari also charged the judiciary to be in the forefront of efforts to develop rights based jurisprudence as an element in the multi-disciplinary approach advocated in the fight against corruption.
The judiciary, he insisted, has a role to play in the fight against corruption by enforcing the applicable laws and ensuring criminal justice administration was not delayed.
He said: “I am worried that the expectation of the public is yet to be met by the judiciary with regard to the removal of delay and the toleration of delay tactics by lawyers. When cases are not concluded the negative impression is given that crime pays.
“So far, the corruption cases filed by government are not progressing as speedily as they should in spite of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act of 2015 essentially because the courts allow some lawyers to frustrate the reforms introduced by law.
“This certainly needs to change if we are to make success in our collective effort in the fight against corruption,” he said.
According to him, the fight against corruption would remain one of the top priorities of his administration towards restoring the economy and building a new Nigeria.
The eradication of corruption, he pointed out was a joint task involving not only judges and members of the legal profession, but literally all stakeholders, including all branches of Government, the media and the civil society.
He said: “The challenge is to come up with an integrated approach that balances process and substance, promote clarity to ensure a coherent and realistic formulation of objectives.
“To this end, the Judiciary is under a duty to keep its house in order and to ensure that the public, which it serves, sees this. Thus, we cannot expect to make any gains in the war against corruption in our society when the judiciary is seen as being distant from the crusade.
“This will not augur well and its negative effect will impact all sectors of society. The judiciary must fight delay of cases in court as well as it fights corruption in its own ranks, perceived or otherwise.
“We expect to see less tolerance to delay tactics used by defense lawyers or even the prosecution in taking cases to conclusion.’’ he stated
The President also noted that the future of anti-corruption efforts in Nigeria rested not only on well-functioning, preventive systems, but also an effective sanctions and enforcement regime in accordance with the laws.
While stressing that his administration is counting on the judiciary in this regard, he assured that the Federal Government was committed to promoting and supporting the judiciary to achieve “a judicial system that is well staffed, well-resourced and that promotes and recognizes dedicated, committed and motivated Judges.
He said: “The Judiciary can count on me for this so that together we can rid our nation of the cancer of
corruption. A corruption free Nigeria is possible therefore let every arm of government be the change we want to see in our country.’’
Congratulating the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption and the National Judicial Institute for their collaboration and initiative, he was optimistic that the outcome of the workshop would serve as a veritable input to the collective effort in “killing corruption before it kills Nigeria.’’
The chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee against corruption, Prof. Itsey Sagay, had earlier narrated how some judges were frustrating the efforts of government in the fight against corruption in the country.
He said that only one out 15 corruption cases against 15 ex-governors since 2007 was successfully prosecuted, adding that the affected ex-governor was only fined N3 million for a fraud case involving N4 billion.
He said the committee had so far trained 160 prosecutors to ensure effective prosecution of high-level corruption cases in the country.
In their separate remarks, the country representatives of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) and Commonwealth Secretariat lauded the efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration in the fight against corruption. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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Fighting corruption good, but you need to be fighting for security! Is this a ploy to distract from the security issues??
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