The Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF, and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami SAN, has disclosed that there will be no plea bargain for those charged with corruption cases, adding that the federal government had put in place a formidable team of public prosecutors to spearhead the anti-corruption war at various courts in the country.
Malami, who made the disclosure yesterday when the BringBackOurGirls campaign movement visited him at his office in Abuja, restated President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment to bring all perpetrators of corrupt practices that led to the heightened insurgency to book.
According to him, “We have put in place a national prosecution team that comprises all stakeholders for the purpose of prosecuting the charges presented before the courts.
“The committee will be saddled with the responsibility of preferring the relevant charges and ensuring that charges are preferred in line with the dictates of the law without compromise.”
The nation’s chief law officer noted that corruption cases under past administrations in the country were deliberately compromised during investigation in order to pave the way for criminal suspects to escape the long arm of the law.
The convener of the group campaigning for the release of the abducted Chibok girls, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, had raised the issue of plea bargains, to which Malami responded by assuring that steps had been taken to audit such cases with a view to bringing the culprits to justice.
He expressed his abhorrence for the policy and pledged the government’s commitment not to compromise the fight against terrorism and financial crimes, adding that, “I cannot imagine someone being responsible for monumental deaths of our citizens and then going scot-free arising from a plea bargain as a policy.
“It has never been the policy of the government to compromise on terrorism and financial crimes. It will never be tolerated by the office of the AGF,” he said.
He continued that, “It is not just about having a team that will be prosecuting but ensuring that the relevant audit is taken as it relates to previous prosecutions to ensure that those that are found wanting are brought to book, and then the future of prosecution in this country is further enhanced by having in place an effective legal team that will involve legal drafters for efficient drafting of charges.
“In addition, there will be efficient investigators that will ensure that adequate proof of evidence that will establish the required ingredients of an offence are put in place, and competent prosecutors that will ensure that the required evidence is presented before the relevant courts for the purpose of establishing guilt.”
He described the abduction of the schoolgirls as “tormenting and psychologically traumatising” for the nation.
“It is tragic for a nation to have a budget meant for arms procurement for the protection of lives and property of the citizens, and ends up not having the arms but compromising the process of making adequate provisions for the protection of lives of its citizens.
“The government of President Muhammadu Buhari has demonstrated sufficient skills and commitment to the protection of lives and property within the shortest practicable time of coming into existence, it has recorded tremendous success including confronting terrorists in Sambisa forest head on with the hope of rescuing the Chibok girls,” he stated.
Speaking earlier, the group’s convener and former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili told the AGF that the inefficient governance of the immediate past government was largely responsible for the tragedy of the Chibok girls.
She recalled that since the advocacy for the Chibok girls began in April 2014, no concrete step was taken by the ex-President, Goodluck Jonathan administration to secure the safe return of the girls.
“In the movement, we over time realised that it was the failure of governance that resulted in the abduction of the Chibok girls and that corruption was the key obstacle to the rescue of the girls.
“To that effect, we believe that in recent times and the revelations that have followed, it is clear that there is a lot your office must do in order to establish a framework that assures Nigerians that every bad behaviour that took place and facilitated the abduction of the girls and every bad behaviour that impeded their rescue must be fully prosecuted.
“The matter of disclosure of the Presidential Taskforce report on the fact-finding mission into the veracity of the abduction is key and urgent.
“This will put paid to the saying by some people that the Chibok girls’ abduction is a scam. How can the tragedy of the Chibok girls be a scam when the government under which it happened instituted an inquiry into it, and there are parents who are crying that their children are not yet back?
“Their children are still with the terrorists and their fellow citizens dare to call their experience a scam? The government owes it a duty to the girls under captivity, their parents, to the community of Chibok, the movement and to all well-meaning Nigerians that the report be transparently disclosed in its entirety so we will know what exactly made it possible for our Chibok girls to have been abducted,” Ezekwesili said.
Malami, who made the disclosure yesterday when the BringBackOurGirls campaign movement visited him at his office in Abuja, restated President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment to bring all perpetrators of corrupt practices that led to the heightened insurgency to book.
According to him, “We have put in place a national prosecution team that comprises all stakeholders for the purpose of prosecuting the charges presented before the courts.
“The committee will be saddled with the responsibility of preferring the relevant charges and ensuring that charges are preferred in line with the dictates of the law without compromise.”
The nation’s chief law officer noted that corruption cases under past administrations in the country were deliberately compromised during investigation in order to pave the way for criminal suspects to escape the long arm of the law.
The convener of the group campaigning for the release of the abducted Chibok girls, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, had raised the issue of plea bargains, to which Malami responded by assuring that steps had been taken to audit such cases with a view to bringing the culprits to justice.
He expressed his abhorrence for the policy and pledged the government’s commitment not to compromise the fight against terrorism and financial crimes, adding that, “I cannot imagine someone being responsible for monumental deaths of our citizens and then going scot-free arising from a plea bargain as a policy.
“It has never been the policy of the government to compromise on terrorism and financial crimes. It will never be tolerated by the office of the AGF,” he said.
He continued that, “It is not just about having a team that will be prosecuting but ensuring that the relevant audit is taken as it relates to previous prosecutions to ensure that those that are found wanting are brought to book, and then the future of prosecution in this country is further enhanced by having in place an effective legal team that will involve legal drafters for efficient drafting of charges.
“In addition, there will be efficient investigators that will ensure that adequate proof of evidence that will establish the required ingredients of an offence are put in place, and competent prosecutors that will ensure that the required evidence is presented before the relevant courts for the purpose of establishing guilt.”
He described the abduction of the schoolgirls as “tormenting and psychologically traumatising” for the nation.
“It is tragic for a nation to have a budget meant for arms procurement for the protection of lives and property of the citizens, and ends up not having the arms but compromising the process of making adequate provisions for the protection of lives of its citizens.
“The government of President Muhammadu Buhari has demonstrated sufficient skills and commitment to the protection of lives and property within the shortest practicable time of coming into existence, it has recorded tremendous success including confronting terrorists in Sambisa forest head on with the hope of rescuing the Chibok girls,” he stated.
Speaking earlier, the group’s convener and former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili told the AGF that the inefficient governance of the immediate past government was largely responsible for the tragedy of the Chibok girls.
She recalled that since the advocacy for the Chibok girls began in April 2014, no concrete step was taken by the ex-President, Goodluck Jonathan administration to secure the safe return of the girls.
“In the movement, we over time realised that it was the failure of governance that resulted in the abduction of the Chibok girls and that corruption was the key obstacle to the rescue of the girls.
“To that effect, we believe that in recent times and the revelations that have followed, it is clear that there is a lot your office must do in order to establish a framework that assures Nigerians that every bad behaviour that took place and facilitated the abduction of the girls and every bad behaviour that impeded their rescue must be fully prosecuted.
“The matter of disclosure of the Presidential Taskforce report on the fact-finding mission into the veracity of the abduction is key and urgent.
“This will put paid to the saying by some people that the Chibok girls’ abduction is a scam. How can the tragedy of the Chibok girls be a scam when the government under which it happened instituted an inquiry into it, and there are parents who are crying that their children are not yet back?
“Their children are still with the terrorists and their fellow citizens dare to call their experience a scam? The government owes it a duty to the girls under captivity, their parents, to the community of Chibok, the movement and to all well-meaning Nigerians that the report be transparently disclosed in its entirety so we will know what exactly made it possible for our Chibok girls to have been abducted,” Ezekwesili said.
