Arms deal: Why recovery of seized $15m delayed – FG

Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, yesterday blamed the delay in the recovery of the $15 million arms money seized from Nigeria by the government of South Africa in September 2014 on the “cumbersome legal process between the two countries.”

The minister, while addressing a press conference in Abuja on the activities of his ministry said, “The recovery process involves mostly nation’s, whose legal system is diverse, processes in respect of diplomatic considerations equally play its roles over and above international conventions and best practices.

“So, when multiplicity of legal systems became an issue, multiplicity of diplomatic engagement is in contention, delay is naturally bound to set in”, he said and added however that the federal government is doing everything possible to ensure the recovery of the money.

Disturbed by the want of legal expertise in the conduct and process of investigations by security agencies in the country, the AGF announced the establishment of an Investigation Unit within his ministry.

He said the unit “shall coordinate and form part of every investigation in Nigeria for a robust investigation and successful prosecution of criminal cases adding also that the Unit will address the anomalies that lead to consistent rejection of vital evidence in the course of prosecution because of the inappropriate investigation.”

Malami said the unit would, among other things, ensure that every investigation “is comprehensively and conclusively conducted.”

On prison decongestion, the minister said the federal government “will establish a case management system to integrate with existing prison information management system covering Lagos, Enugu and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).”

The AGF also announced that his ministry was working on getting the approval of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for the installation and implementation of a state-of-the-art modern Virtual Automated Case Management System (V-ACMS) to “incorporate an online up-to-date integrated biometrics prisoners’ information technology that would strengthen the operations of the federal justice sector institutions and eliminate bottlenecks in the administration of criminal justice system in the country.”

He said despite the numerous challenges like “the prolonged and inconclusive investigation by law enforcement agencies, lack of funds to sponsor witness to court, delay in mobilsing prosecutors, delay in the production of case files to his office by law enforcement agencies among other challenges, officers in the Department of Public Prosecution (DPP) have been able to secure commendable convictions.”

Malami told the management staff of his ministry that there was the need for a change in administrative mechanism and ideology for better performance.

“The need for institutional and policy reforms within the justice sector is of prime importance in the life of every nation as the concept of democracy, human rights, rule of law and economic growth cannot be sustained without efficient and reliable justice delivery system.”

 

 

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