‘FG not ready to implement new criminal justice law’
Afam Osigwe is the General Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA). In this interview, he speaks on the recent visit of the Pan-African Lawyers Union (PALU) to Nigeria, the failure of government to implement the new Criminal Justice Administration Act and anti-corruption. Excerpts: You recently hosted PALU to a two-day visit to Nigeria from […]
Afam Osigwe is the General Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA). In this interview, he speaks on the recent visit of the Pan-African Lawyers Union (PALU) to Nigeria, the failure of government to implement the new Criminal Justice Administration Act and anti-corruption. Excerpts:
You recently hosted PALU to a two-day visit to Nigeria from the headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania. What is the purpose of their visit?
The NBA is one of the affiliate members of the Pan-African Lawyers Union. Their coming to Nigeria is part of plans for their annual general conference, which they intend to host in Nigeria. They intend to present for adoption, a code of ethics for legal practitioners especially, those who work in the oil and gas industry. My understanding of why they chose to do this is because of the effects of massive corruption on the economy of many of the African nations. Considering that many African nations depend on petroleum resource to fund government at various tiers, they feel that if lawyers, who are involved in it are made to imbibe a code of ethics, it will go a long way in curbing corruption.
Particular mention was made of President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria, who in his recent push has vowed to investigate corruption in the petroleum sector and allegations that though huge sums of money was realised from sales of crude oil, large percentage of it was not remitted to the coffers of the federation. And to think that some lawyers may be involved in some of these transactions, brings to bear the importance of having such code of ethics so that lawyers who are involved in such dealings would not unnecessarily expose themselves and would know what to do and not to do in order not only to enhance the integrity of the process, but also their standing as lawyers.
How many countries would sign up to the new code?
I am not an organising committee member, but there are about 55 African countries and many countries that have signed up as affiliates of PALU are going to be there. And until they arrive for the conference in September, we may not know how many countries will be here. And we can’t be sure the code of ethics will be adopted at this stage because the Bar associations would have time to discuss it to ensure that when it is presented for adoption, they would have had time to study it and take positions on the provisions.
What are the expectations following the conclusion of this year’s Young Lawyers Forum of the NBA in Benin City?
Even though I was a panelist at the forum, I have not seen their communique. But I expect that whatever communique they come up with will be discussed at the Bar and as much as possible every effort must be made to implement it to ensure that the young lawyers play a pivotal role, not only in the legal profession, but also in the society and ensuring that there is speedy dispensation of justice.
How do you see the Criminal Administration Act, which inauguration you were part of?
The law is not without its own flaws. Some provisions of that law are inconsistent with some other provisions of some other laws. Even though the law has been passed, we have not seen any sign on the part of government that it is ready for the implementation of the Act. For example, the Act seeks to oust the powers of lay police officers from prosecuting cases in the magistrate courts. But no measure has been put in place to post lawyers to police stations or to de-centralise the Ministry of Justice or in the FCT so that these lawyers will take over the job being done by lawyers. There is also the confusion as to whether policemen who are lawyers can continue to prosecute or they will rely on the decision of the Supreme Court in Osahon vs The State or Section 23 of the Police Act to prosecute.
We also don’t know whether the Act applies to the Federal High Court, because there is no amendment on the Federal High Court Act which says that the provisions of the Criminal Prosecution Act will apply to the court. I would think that there is an implicit amendment of that law, but it would have been neater for this law to have specifically stated this so that people will know which law is operative.
The law is a welcome development as far as stating that if a person is taken to a magistrate’s court on a holding charge, a magistrate can even though he has no jurisdiction, consider bail and admit the person to bail; and also the other aspect of holding charge, where the police can put you in detention and get a court to remand the suspect in prison on awaiting trial and forget the person for many years without the person standing trial. If this law is properly applied, this will be eliminated because a court before which a suspect is brought must not make an order of remand indefinitely, but for two weeks. And the defendant would be brought before the judge or magistrate for a review. And if after further reviews, there is no seriousness on the part of the prosecution, the magistrate would now have the power to discharge the person.
And I also think that there is need for judges to realise that even though the law was passed after many trials have commenced, the law applies to proceedings as of the date it becomes law. And all this argument as to whether it has retroactive application or not, should be eliminated.
So said, there are some gaps in the law to be filled. Our judges, magistrates and lawyers need to read the law and have understanding on it. And for lawyers there may be need for trainings as for the changes it has introduced, and the best way to apply the law so as to achieve the aims and objectives in passing it.
The Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, recently called for reforms in the standard of legal education. As a stakeholder, what is your position on this?
The only constant thing in life is change. Everybody agrees that there is need to reform legal education. What people are not in agreement with is the extent of reforms that the legal education needs. I think stakeholders need to look at the curriculum of legal education in the universities, courses, the number of years spent, the relevance of some courses being offered; look at the Law School and know whether there is need to review some aspects of the Law School and allow private persons in, or as some people suggest, to do away with the Law School and adopt an ICAN-like exam that once you finish from university, you enter for the exam and you could be working in a law firm as a law graduate and not yet a lawyer until you pass the exam. I think the major stakeholders would have to sit and articulate a position. At the appropriate time, the president of NBA, Augustine Allegeh (SAN), will articulate the position of the Bar and present it to the public.
What is your view on the current anti-corruption war?
I am worried at the sudden zeal of the EFCC in the prosecution of cases; investigating petitions that have long been there. The EFCC has been accused of rushing to the media, making press releases and making it banner headlines that a big person is being charged to court. And we should for once relate that to the quality of the prosecution. Diligence in prosecuting these cases, and ensuring that the EFCC gets its acts right by doing proper investigation so that when the cases get to court they stand a good chance.
The EFCC should for a start relate to us how much have been spent on prosecutions, number of convictions secured, the number of money realized as forfeited assets and how they have been utilised for us to know how effective this organisation has been. We must match prosecuted cases ratio, conviction ratio to the money spent on EFCC. We need to know the requisite qualification of those who prosecute these cases; what is the forensic ability of the EFCC. Above all, I think EFCC should stop jumping to be seen in the media without replicating same in the court.
It might interest you to know that EFCC has not successfully prosecuted one former governor. And many of their cases in court have been dismissed. Why are they being dismissed? We have also got to a point where there is paucity of funds in government, I think time has come to merge the EFCC and ICPC because we are wasting too much money on them and there is duplicity and overlap of functions. Nobody should politicise this issue.
What are your expectations for the new government of President Muhammadu Buhari?
My view is very simple. The government has given a manifesto, which we all believe Nigerian people accepted by massively voting it and voting out an incumbent. My only expectation is that this manifesto which endeared the current government to voters, which made them to vote a government which was last in power in 1985. If I am to prioritise for them, I will say fight corruption, fight insurgency and terrorism in our country; enthrone transparency in administration of government and reduce waste in administration of government.