Corruption cases: CSOs advocate constitution amendment, adequate funding

About 12 Civil Society Organisations have suggested measures that need to be put in place to address the delays suffered by high profile corruption cases in many Nigerian courts. The suggestions, including a call for constitution amendment, followed the groups’ analysis of the interim report presented to the National Judicial Council by the Justice Suleiman Galadima-led Corruption and Financial Crime Cases Trial Monitoring Committee. The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, had in his capacity as the chairman of the NJC, inaugurated the Justice Suleiman Galadima-led COTRIMCO on November 1, 2017 mandating it to, among others, identify the causes of delays in corruption and financial crimes cases and recommend solutions. As of November 26, 2017, NJC said COTRIMCO had received the details of 2, 306 ongoing cases which fell under the committee’s mandate. According to a statement by the NJC’s Director of Information, Mr. Soji Oye, on May 20, 2018, the interim report of COMTRIMCO blamed the prosecution, the courts and prisons for the delays. Oye said the committee’s interim report contained “findings from discussions with heads of courts and observations made from the surprise visits of the members to courts handling corruption and financial crime cases in some parts of country”. The committee’s interim report blamed all the stakeholders, including the courts handling the trials and the agencies prosecuting them, for the delays in the trials. But the prosecution got a large chunk of the blame. According to the committee, the prosecution was responsible for the delays in many ways, including, lack of requisite experience and competence, reliance on irrelevant documentary evidence, multiplicity of charges, collusion of prosecutors with defence lawyers, non-adherence to court rules\procedures and amendment of charges after commencement of trial. But the CSOs, in a meeting held in Abuja last week on the sidelines of a forum organised by the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, suggested ways of addressing the problems identified in the COTRIMCO’s report. Apart from CSLS led by Prof. Yemi Akinseye George (SAN), other groups that were part of the deliberation included, Public and Private Development Centre; Integrity Organisation; Zero Corruption Coalition; Publish What You Pay; Good Governance Team; Center LSD; and Center for Democracy and Development; Institutional and Sustainable Development Foundation. The rest are, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre; Socio Economic Research Development Centre, and Youth Initiative for Advocacy Growth and Advancement. They discussed issues raised in the COTRIMCO’s report, including duplicity and multiplicity of charges, absence of parties from court, matters arising from extra-judicial statements and documentary evidence, and the roles played by courts and prisons in causing the delays. They suggested, among other salient points, that emphasis should shift to targeting the proceeds of crime and pursing non-conviction based asset recovery. They also suggested that the Constitution be amended to place the onus of proof in corruption cases on the defendant. Under the proposed system the defendant will be made to prove the source of assets found in their possession but considered to be far beyond their legitimate means. They likened this to the Unexplained Wealth provision which exists in the United Kingdom. The communique issued by the groups read in part, “The SOs are demanding that emphasis should be on the following: “Target on proceeds of crime;non-conviction based asset recovery. “The constitution should be amended such that the onus of proof of corruption cases will be on the defendant to prove the source of asset where asset found in their possession is far beyond their legitimate or known means. “This is in line with the Unexplained Wealth provision practiced in the United Kingdom. “There should be a shift in the burden of proof from the prosecution to the defendant in corruption cases,” the groups added.]]>