However, the plaintiff, in the suit he lodged before the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, challenged the legality of that potion of the law, insisting that its application would amount to a gross violation of section 36(5) of the 1999 constitution, as amended. He argued that the section has made it more difficult for indigent Nigerians facing minor criminal charges to secure bail from courts. The ACJA was signed into law by former President Goodluck Jonathan early this year. Meantime, ‎cited as defendants in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/889/2015, were the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN, and the National Assembly. ‎Specifically, the plaintiff contended that if section165(2) of the ACJA, is allowed to exist, its application will entail that a Nigerian citizen who has no money or other security will be deprived of his right to bail and will not have his bail approved and will therefore be sent to prison until he/she pays the money when he/she is yet to be tried for the offence. In a 17 paragraphed affidavit he deposed to in support of the suit, Dr. Agbazuere, cited various judgments of both the Supreme and Appeal Courts, which he said backs his position that section 165(2) of the ACJA runs contrary to the 1999 constitution. According to him, “The law is settled that the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is supreme and if any other law is inconsistent with the provisions of this Constitution, this Constitution shall prevail and that other law shall to the extent of its inconsistency be void by virtue of section 1(1) and (3) of the constitution. “That applicability of section 165(2) of the Administration of Criminal Act, 2015 will deprive Nigerian citizens of their liberty, freedom and fair hearing. “My Lord, I submit that in our laws, presumption of innocence is so sacrosanct that the burden of rebuttal or the burden to discharge presumption of innocence at any time demands that the prosecution would have established or proved the essential ingredients of offence and the accused person is unable to bring himself within the defences of exceptions allowed under the law generally. “With section 165(2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015, the accused is to pay money before his bail can be approved when the prosecution has neither proved the essential ingredients of the case not has the accused been found guilty. “By providing for the mandatory payment of money before bail is approved, section 165(2) of the Act has now presumed every person guilty when he has not been tried and found guilty. It is an aberration and ambush against the people and should not be allowed to stand. “At a time when the level of poverty in Nigeria is so alarming that the President has declared that Nigeria is broke and states cannot pay salaries to workers except with the aid of bailout funds ( which are also loans), any legislation imposing payment of money on Nigerian citizens before their bail is approved is not only inconsistent with the intendment of section 36 (5) of the constitution but also a bad law as it is anti people. “Section 165(2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 shall lead to and is already causing arbitrarily detention and deprivation of the liberty and freedom of Nigerians, as their bail shall not and is not being approved until they deposit money, when they are still deemed innocent by our laws”, he argued.]]>