Plea bargain is constitutiona l – Prof. Nwosu

A professor of Law and Director of Settlement House, Prof. Kevin Nwosu  has said there is nothing unconstitutional about plea-bargaining in the prosecution of financial fraud.

He made the clarification at the 1st public lecture organized by the Advocates for Societal and Intellectual Development at the Nigerian Law School in Abuja.
“There is nothing unconstitutional about plea-bargaining. It is a way of quick recovery of stolen public funds instead of allowing the matter to linger, thereby giving the culprit opportunity to go scot-free due to the moribund nature of our laws and the inherent lapses therein”.
Prof. Nwosu however queried the practice against the backdrop of non-applicability of community service in punishing convicts as a way of decongesting the prisons.

He said that the moribund interpretation and application of existing laws is a source of concern. “There are provisions for parole and effective case management but they are not being implemented. There is provision for community service but it is not implemented”. The guest lecturer and Justice of the Supreme Court, Hon. Justice John Iyang Okoro advocated for the abrogation of moribund and outdated laws.
He challenged the Nigerian Law Reform Commission to rise up to its mandate of reforming the nation’s moribund laws. Justice Okoro said: “Lack of implementation has made the laws effective”.

The public lecture which was organized by students of the Nigerian Law School Abuja Campus was meant to do scrutinize the moribund nature of some existing laws in Nigeria.

In a welcome address by the association’s President, Joshua Dada, “today’s lecture seeks to scrutinize the moribund nature of some existing laws viz a viz their effect on the administration of justice in contemporary Nigeria”.
He added that “This lecture is a forum through which pragmatic solution will be proffered as well as the necessary impetus being generated to proactively chase the reformation of our laws”.

Other discussants at the occasion were Mr. Mahmud Magaji (SAN), principal partner and founder of Mahmud & Co, and Mr. S.A Osamolu, Esq  who is the Head of Academics, Nigerian Law School Abuja.