Early in the year, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo announced plans by the federal government to designate specific courts to handle corruption cases. Months after the pronouncement, critics have continued to argue that the establishment of special courts would distend the judicial system, or that the judges could be easily compromised. KEHINDE OSASONA looks at the possibilities and likely challenges ahead
TI’s verdict According to the 2017 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) released by Transparency International (TI), Nigeria still ranks as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. The report indicated that in West Africa, Nigeria is the second worst country out of 17 countries, leaving only Guinea Bissau behind. In the new index, Nigeria dropped 12 places from its position of 136th least corrupt country in 2016 to 148th. This drop comes despite the country’s improved overall CPI score of 28/100 which is one point more than 2016’s 27/100.
The index ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption in the opinion of experts and business people, and uses a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean. Recently too, the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), which is TI’s national contact, described the new index as worrisome, saying it apparently reflects the inability of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to tackle corruption headlong as promised before his assumption of office. According to CISLAC statement, “this fresh setback in the fight against corruption confirms that grand corruption, political corruption, nepotism, favouritism and bribery persist in Nigeria at all levels. “It is CISLAC’s view that the negative perception is mainly a consequence of the inability to combat grand corruption and astronomical plundering of public coffers costing the Nigerian tax payers around 25% of annual GDP.
Buhari’s anti-graft war On May 29th, 2015, during the handing over of reign of power and his inauguration, Buhari was quoted as having said that lack of accountability at the state and local government levels constituted part of the reasons governance is having issues from the executive arm. He said: “While the federal government cannot interfere in the details of its operation, it will ensure that the gross corruption at the local level is checked. As far as the constitution allows me, I will try to ensure that there is responsible and accountable governance at all levels of government in the country.”
Buhari counters President Buhari, had at a public forum, expressed delight that the message of anticorruption is taking irreversible resonance as other units of government voluntarily pick the gauntlet to confront the malaise. Making a declaration at the 1st Adamawa State Anti-Corruption Summit in Yola recently, he said it was encouraging that a state government on its own decided to fight corruption by encouraging a culture of transparency and integrity in the conduct of public affairs.
“Even though under our system, the federal government cannot directly interfere in the details of the operations of states, but to see that the gross corruption at the local level is being checked and transparently reported is a thing of satisfaction and joy for me,” he remarked.
Taking anti-graft war abroad Reiterating his commitment to the fights against corruption in Nigeria, Buhari had told African leaders at the launch of the African anti-corruption year at the justconcluded AU summit in Addis Ababa, that winning the war against corruption in the continent would require a change of mindset.
“In Nigeria we have gone far into the implementation of our change agenda, which is primarily aimed at fighting corruption,” he said. In an address titled ‘Winning the fight against corruption: A sustainable path to Africa’s transformation’, Buhari said, such a change of mindset would require instilling more transparent values in the political class and the entire citizens. Describing corruption as one of the “greatest evils of our time,” the president noted that Africa has made significant strides in tackling the menace by “putting in place legal and policy frameworks, notably the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (AUCPCC). “Public confi dence has been eroded by a “focus on short-term priorities and payoff s, propelled by corruption, which too often leaves projects uncompleted and promises unfulfilled. “Strong institutions are a necessary condition in any society which aims to fight corruption.
In building strong national and regional institutions, we must adequately empower our national anti-corruption agencies and insulate them from political influence. “As leaders, we must build synergy between the executive, legislative and judicial arms of government in order to entrench good governance, transparency and accountability.” Identifying illicit financial flows as one of the implications of corruption in Africa, Buhari said the continent loses $50 billion annually, according to a report of the AU panel on illicit financial flows from Africa.
Special courts to the rescue? Complementing the effort in the fight against corruption, Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Walter Onnoghen, at a special session of the Supreme Court where he administered oath on 29 new Senior Advocates of Nigeria, ordered heads of the divisions of courts to create special courts for corruption and financial crimes cases.
The directive, according to him, was necessary in order to end the unnecessary delay associated with the prosecution of corruption cases in the country. In the same vein, he directed that all lists of pending corruption cases in the various courts be forwarded to the National Judicial Council (NJC), assuring that an Anti-Corruption Cases Trial Monitoring Committee will be constituted at the next council meeting to help the NJC monitor and effectively enforce the foregoing policy.
“The committee would be saddled with, among other things, the responsibility of ensuring that both trial and appellate courts handling corruption and financial crime cases key into and abide by our renewed efforts at ridding our country of the cankerworm,” he explained.
Of more judges and special court Also, a retired Justice of the Supreme Court and Nigeria’s High Commissioner to Britain, George Oguntade, advocated for more judges as a way of quickening the dispensation of justice in the country.
He said: “What I will suggest is that the judicial department be expanded, bring in more judges instead of bringing special courts. Judges who sit regularly over cases are bound to know more and to be more compliant with the regular laws than lawyers brought in on emergency to come and handle very technical matters. “Don’t forget that after adjudication, there are possibilities that appeals would follow
It’s much better that this judicial process is channelled through the wellknown procedure: from the High Court to the Court of Appeal, to the Supreme Court. That is the process I know could be expanded to ensure that cases are more speedily disposed of.
Controversial bill and congestion in court And as part of the anti-corruption policy of the Buhari administration, an executive bill for the establishment of a special court to try corruption cases was submitted to the national assembly.
Although it was submitted over a year now, up till now, the lawmakers have not passed the crucial bill into law. Consequently, corruption cases have been subjected to inordinate delays in the court, and according to legal experts, the development has now resulted to congestion of cases. Stakeholders, nevertheless, believe that the three arms of government in Nigeria must work in unison and wake up to their responsibility, advocating that only through such collaborations can justice be speedily served, not only that, the congestion menace in our courts would also be dealt with.
