Sir: Corruption trials in Nigeria typically spend an average of 5 to 10 years in court, leaving many high-profile corruption cases either hibernating or abandoned at different levels of our courts. With a sluggish judicial process, corruption persists and the toll on society staggering.
When a high public official is on endless trial and re-arraignment, and year after year attend court hearing with fully armed police escorts and luxury cars, a message is passed to those reading or watching the news that there are no or immediate consequences for wrongdoing, especially when you have the resources to put a clog in the wheel of justice.
This systemic delay creates a cultural shift that normalizes crime, from a culture of shame to applause for crime. Also, when corruption persists without consequences, those who cannot engage in crime re-strategize, focus now shifts from a place of nation-building to exit plans; and as a lot of professionals and hardworking Nigerians trained by the available infrastructure in the country continue to migrate out of the country, a brain drain deficit is created and to replace this require long-term investment in both human and economic capital.
Many corruption trials in Nigeria are repeatedly plagued with frivolous interlocutory appeals, endless adjournment and administrative bottlenecks, making high profiles cases very difficult to come to an end. Protracted trials are a mockery to the overall justice system, and in Nigeria, corruption is rewarded when justice is delayed.
What can be done?
Institutional bottlenecks that hinder the progress of cases must be removed. Frivolous interlocutory applications that lead to multiple adjournment of cases should be discarded, or only allowed at a certain stage in the proceeding to prevent abuse. Specific court practice directions should be developed to direct proceedings concerning corruption trials from start to finish, coupled with strict adherence to the administration of the criminal justice act (which also seeks to eliminate delays).
Also, corruption trials should be time bound. Making it time bound creates a level of urgency for the delivery of justice. Once initiated, such cases should not exceed a certain period of time like election petition proceedings. Corruption is an existential crisis in Nigeria and the fight against it must be powered on all cylinders to achieve zero tolerance in the country. In order to achieve this, special court can be established solely for proceedings related to corruption charges, with designated judges assigned to these courts. A special court with a mandate to handle only corruption related matters will deliver more judgements in a short time than a general court with overladen dockets.
The war against corruption, in addition to being strategic, must be swift and prompt. The Judiciary, National Judicial Commission, anti-corruption agencies and the Nigerian Bar Association as key actors in the war against corruption campaign must push harder as collaborators in the fight and individually by improving and strengthening their institutional capacity to collectively build a nation that will be safe for the future generations.