Lawyers Seek Review Of Laws On Criminal Justice

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Some lawyers on Tuesday said the existing laws on the dispensation of criminal justice should be reviewed to fight corruption and meet other challenges facing Nigeria.

They made the remark in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in the light of the protests which greeted the judgment passed on Mr. John Yakubu, an assistant director in the police pension office by an Abuja High Court on the stealing of more than N23 billion pension fund.

According to them, the provisions, especially the penal code, is insufficient to tackle corruption in all its ramifications and the nation needs stiffer laws to sanitise the polity.

One of the respondents, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), said that the recent judgment passed by an Abuja High Court on the embezzlement of more than N23 billion Police Pension Fund had highlighted some loopholes in the Penal Code.

“In an analysis I just made, if the money involved is N32 billion and an average pensioner takes home N500,000, it means that one year’s pension of 64,000 people was stolen.

“And the penalty given to John Yusuf for stealing more than N32 billion was two years’ imprisonment with an option of fine.

“So, with this, we can see that our criminal and penal codes are grossly out of date,” he said.

Sagay noted that adoption of one criminal law for the entire country would only be feasible if the 36 governors come together and agree to have a uniform criminal justice system.

“There is no way we can impose one criminal system unless all the governors come together and agree to do so,” he added.

A human rights lawyer, Mr. Bamidele Aturu said that corruption related offences should carry the full weight of the law without an option of fine or both.

“The law on corruption is due for review because it is obsolete and archaic.

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“Much stiffer measures should be implemented so that prospective offenders would stay clear of crime,” Aturu said.

He explained that the history of having two different codes in the the criminal justice system had to do with the diverse culture of the land.

“If it has to be harmonised, the cultural feasibility of the people should be taken into consideration,” he said.

Another legal practitioner, Mr. Ogedi Ogu said archaic laws had no stringent measures to fight the corruption that was now assuming unimaginable proportion.

He said stiffer penalties were necessary to curb crime among public servants, some of who had exhibited high propensity for looting public funds.

He added that Nigerian laws should be amended to reflect the present reality.

“The reality on ground is that the penal code is not punitive enough to serve as a deterrent.

“The law should be able to discourage people from committing crime, rather than encouraging them.” Ogu said.

On the existence of two separate laws in the administration of criminal justice, Ogu noted that the two can co-exist, as far as they meet societal demands.

“What we need to ensure is that they should be amended to keep in tune with the reality on ground,” he said.

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