By ABAH SUNDAY, Abuja
Stakeholders have identified and emphasised the need for the various departments of government and agencies handling criminal justice matters in Nigeria to have clear understanding of their existential role in tackling corruption, which currently pervades all sectors of the economy, to a standstill.
Various speakers at a 2-Day Workshop on Anti-Corruption Laws for Criminal Justice Stakeholders which commenced on Monday, organised in Abuja by the Nigerian Institute Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS), with the support of MacArthur Foundation, expressed the believe that to win the war against the endemic corruption in the country, relevant institutions must be strengthened, clearly understand their roles, and synergise.
Speaking to newsmen at the event on Monday, the Director General (DG), NIALS, Prof Abdulkadir Ibrahim Abikan, said the over all aim of the workshop was to share knowledge on the roles to be played by the various stakeholders in upholding and implementing extant laws towards addressing the pervasive corruption in the country for the common good of the people.
“As you are aware corruption is commonplace in Nigeria. Almost every fabric of the society is affected.
“Many administrations or governments of the country have been trying a lot to ensure that they eradicate this or reduce corruption to the barest minimum.
“Now so many sectors are involved. There will always be people that want to breach the law by engaging in corrupt practices, and it’s only when we have strong institutions that will ensure that whoever engages in corruption knows that there is consequence.
And to get to the point of consequence, various sectors and agencies of government are involved. You have the investigators of corrupt practices, you have prosecutors of corrupt practices, and you have the judges.
“We have this laws since the time of Obasanjo’s administration when ICPC was created, when EFCC was created. All these laws are laws that are supposed to be used in investigating and prosecuting corruption Nigeria. But like it was said in the hall, it is not enough to just create a law. How the laws are being implemented matters a lot if we are going to achieve the desired results.
“So what we have been doing in collaboration with MacArthur Foundation for about 10 years now is to ensure that the criminal justice system is such that no innocent person is be punished, the long arm of the law catches up with every corrupt person.
“So to be able to do this, we have been going around in partnership with MacArthur, not only for this workshop, but also to to to prepare some document, like the Rules of Court for every state of the Federation, to ensure that while administering the criminal justice laws, it is done seamlessly; and everybody understands it,” he explained.
The DG also disclosed that they had identified some critical Anti-corruption laws as well as their implementation stakeholders – “the police, the ICPC, EFCC, NFIU, the Correctional Centre among others, and have developed the manual, as a research centre, for use to enhance understanding of their specific roles in tackling the menace of corruption in the country.
“We have looked at the whole thing. Why are we not getting the desired result? It means not everybody is not on the same page among the stakeholders. Apart from this programme, we are organising another one to sit down so that we look at the manual step by step on how to implement this law to be able to achieve the desire result. In that way, we would have done our own part as a research institute.
“We have put the manual together so all the stakeholders who have been brought together would look at it together, and to ensure this is good for all of us. If there’s any impute, all those agencies also want to bring into it, we all agree on it, and we adopt it. It’s going to be circulated throughout the country for all these agencies to use as a manual to guide them in the implementation of all these anti-corruption,” he concluded.
Delivering her goodwill message, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Hafsat Abubakar Bakari, commended the organisers of the workshop describing it as timely given the current realities.
According to the NFIU CEO, who was represented by Felix Obiamalu, inter-agency collaboration must be bolstered in the fight against corruption for better result so that Nigeria exit her grey list status within the global Financial Action Taskforce (FATF).
She said, “This event is not only relevant—it is essential. At a time when nations around the world are strengthening institutional frameworks to combat corruption and illicit financial flows, Nigeria too must remain steadfast and proactive in its response.
“The issues here ‘speak to the heart of our national development, our international reputation, and the confidence of our citizens in the institutions of justice.
“As we may all be aware, Nigeria is a signatory to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC)—a comprehensive global instrument that sets out obligations around prevention, criminalization, international cooperation, and asset recovery.
“It’s more than just a treaty, because UNCAC represents a commitment to integrity, transparency, and accountability in public affairs. It calls on ail of us—lawyers, ( judges) law enforcement officers, regulators, and policymakers—to uphold the highest standards of justice and fairness.
“In addition, Nigeria is an active member of the global AML/CFI/CPF community within the Financial Action Task Force network and is currently undergoing a rigorous process of addressing the action items set out in our FATF ‘Grey List’ exit plan. This includes: legal reforms, institutional strengthening, riskbased supervision, and operational effectiveness in tackling money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing.
“Our inclusion on the FATF Grey List has brought these issues into even sharper focus. It has underscored the urgent need for enhanced inter-agency collaboration, increased technical competence, and above all, results.
“Let me assure this gathering that Nigeria is fully committed to exiting the Grey List within the shortest possible time. To underscore this fact, NFIU is working closely with key partners in the anti-corruption and anti-financial crime ecosystem.
“But we also recognize that laws alone are not enough. Enforcement is only as strong as the people who drive if—the investigators who dig deep, the prosecutors who build solid cases, the judges who interpret the law with fairness and rigour, and the policy architects who ensure our frameworks are fit for purpose. That is why workshops like this are so important.”
In the same vein, the Chairman Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), aka Unity Bar, Steve Emelieze, while speaking to newsmen stressed the need for the investigative segment of the value chain to work closely with the prosecution section.
He opined that there is every need for the investigator and the prosecutor to work seamlessly together for successful criminal justice administration.
According to him, the investigator needs to come up with empirical evidences that would facilitate smooth protection rather than rushing to court without reliable investigation carried out.
The 2-day event had all relevant Anti-corruption agencies represented, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) among others represented.