We don’t need new laws on election offences –Ajayi

Should we have a special court established to prosecute electoral offenders?It is not the law that has been handicapping prosecuting people for electoral offenses; it is not whether there was an Act of the National Assembly or not that empowered or did not empower the prosecution of people found guilty of electoral offenses. This is […]

Should we have a special court established to prosecute electoral offenders?
It is not the law that has been handicapping prosecuting people for electoral offenses; it is not whether there was an Act of the National Assembly or not that empowered or did not empower the prosecution of people found guilty of electoral offenses. This is because our laws are already very clear where you commit an offense; whether ballot snatching, deliberate violence or otherwise. Any electoral offense whatsoever is triable in our courts.
We don’t have to promulgate a new law before you can charge anybody that has committed an offense during election. It’s only that people shy away from prosecuting these electoral offenders because of the pressure of politicians.  By the way, most of these people that commit electoral offenses, somehow will have a godfather, they will have a big-man behind that conduct, it is either that person now becomes the governor of the state or he becomes an influential person who can now influence his own prosecution.  
So the issue of non-prosecution is not due to the fact that there are no laws under which they could be charged; it’s due to an unnecessary political pressure that has been suppressing the prosecution of those offenders. People are always arrested but there is always somebody somewhere who will now put pressure on the police and they will negligently refuse or abate the trial.      
Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) is still on strike in Ekiti State, is the end of the strike in sight?
Ever before the Federal High Court Abuja judgment, we have always given all the funds for the day-to-day running of the judiciary to the judiciary but JUSUN strike in Ekiti State is a little bit complicated because, capital expenditures involve a lot of bodies. We have the Department of Public Procurement process, we have the Ministry of Works and Transport that we’ll have to go through if you have to award contract into the projects in the judiciary.
It’s not about budget; it’s not money that can just be given to the judiciary like that without going through certain due process with the government. We are proposing to build high court complex running into billions of naira, but we cannot just go and give the judiciary that money without going through due process, the contract has to be vetted, due process has to be followed; the Ministry of Works has to go through it to make sure they are in compliance with the due process.  
All these things are not available within the judiciary. They don’t have the facilities because they are the judiciary, they are not the executive. So let them realise that this issue of capital project, should be handled with moderation; let us handle it with understanding. They were asking us to put this down in black and white, that all money for capital projects should be deposited into the judiciary account. We said it’s not as straight forward as that, it requires a lot of understanding between the executive and the judiciary as regards capital projects, but they were insisting that all capital projects will be solely executed by them. So that is the only area of disagreement.   
The strike has been on for four months now, how do you get suspects to court for bail in view of the constitutional provisions of their rights?
The Commissioner of Police complained to my office that the police cells are overwhelmed with people with capital and other offenses, who they cannot just release, as well as those that cannot be granted bail because of the nature of the offenses and who have to be taken into police custody. So, we made an internal arrangement that some magistrates should go to the police station to sit and those matters that require bail should be granted bail. So we have made that internal arrangement with the police where magistrates sit inside the police quarters and take necessary application in order to decongest the stress in the police station. As at now, other issues are suspended except those that can be taken care of in the federal high court.
What is your position on the death penalty, should it be abolished?
As far as I am concerned, our laws still allow death penalty. It’s still the law of the land and until it is amended, it remains the law of the land. So, it is difficult to advocate for total abrogation of death penalty.
What is happening in Ekiti State on the alleged impeachment of Governor Fayose?
There is no impeachment process going on, except for the publications in the newspapers.