President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been urged by COALITION for Democracy in Nigeria (CODIN) to make sure that the wealth taken from the late General Sanni Abacha is fully accounted for.
The pro-democracy organization’s president, Mr. Mashood Erubami, issued the call yesterday after speaking to members during an emergency meeting in Ibadan.
He stated that “recovery of such loots by corrupt leaders must continue to be accounted for while informing the people of the innovative and lasting projects being targeted for the people’s welfare” in response to France’s decision to return an additional $150 million in Abacha loot.
Additionally, he advocates for FG and the criminal justice system’s stakeholders, especially the judiciary, to collaborate effectively.
At the 2019 biennial All Nigeria Judges Conference of Superior Courts opening ceremony in Abuja, Comrade Erubami reminded President Tinubu of previous calls made by former President Muhammadu Buhari to “remove administrative bottlenecks in the judicial process by the conference in its deliberations, considering how to create an efficient structure for the proposed Special Crimes Courts or the urgent designation of existing courts as Special Courts with competent and seasoned credible judicial officers.”
“All parties involved in the criminal justice system and justice reform, which will be led by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, ought to rise above the present obstacles confronting the judiciary and take decisive action to address these issues, which have impeded the nation’s powerful efforts to combat corruption.”
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The activist suggested that in order to demonstrate the stakeholders forum’s commitment to certain justice sector changes, new measures should be developed. These may include reviewing current laws and passing new legislation that, if corruption is eradicated, will enhance the lives of Nigerians.
As to his statement, “the Tinubu Administration’s commitment to fighting corruption and insecurity and supporting economic revival through the incorruptible attraction of foreign direct investments into the country must not be limited to the judiciary reforms alone.”
According to him, “profitable foreign investments can only be realized in an environment where conducting business is simple and business procedures are subject to international best practices where the law is supreme.”
In order to improve transparency, security, and the prompt adjudication of crimes related to corruption, he thus called on the bench and the bar to stay up to date with government anti-corruption project models by working together to strengthen and advance the articulation of new judicial devices.
The group emphasized that judicial interpretation is necessary to give substantive justice rather than merely passing judgment on the constitutional provisions and justices in the various anti-corruption laws that have already been designed and new laws that could be reenacted to combat those exposed for corruption from all three arms of government.
“By reinstating measures to discourage the trend that will engage the judicial institution to help ensure that corruption impunities are fought to their logical conclusion, the leadership of the nation’s judiciary must prevent the people from drawing the conclusion that the judiciary was responsible for the prevalent corruption fightback.”
“Anyone who offers to act as a “go-between,” be it a person, the police, or a lawyer, should be considered a criminal and brought before the courts for proper, impartial legal proceedings,” he said in closing.
