NO SPECIAL COURTS FOR GRAFT CASES - FASHOLA, AKEREDOLU
By OLASUNKANMI AKONI
LAGOS - Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State and former President of Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu, yesterday, led other notable speakers to condemn the call for the establishment of special courts for corruption, saying it was incapable of ensuring speedy trial.
Speaking at the fifth Kehinde Sofola Memorial Lecture in Lagos, they said the creation of special courts would not ensure speedy conclusion of corruption cases or address the problem of corruption frontally.
They called for the strengthening of the existing court system to enable it dispense justice on corruption cases more expeditiously as well as tackle the problem of impunity.
Fashola noted that corruption had been a major albatross to the country's development, saying that what was needed was a holistic solution to the problem and not the setting up of special corruption courts.
Fashola called for the strengthening of capacity of the existing court system to handle corruption cases as well as the removal of problems that constituted barriers to timely and effective delivery of justice.
Noting that corruption was a symptom of an underperforming economy, he said the improvement of the economy would go a along way to address the problem.
Akeredolu stressed that corruption like other crimes should be handled in the normal courts established for that purpose, noting that setting up special courts would amount to duplication of efforts.
He said what the government needed to do was to examine the problems of the country's court system and remove them to allow them deliver justice in corruption cases.
Akeredolu charged judicial officers as well as other agencies handling corruption cases to be honest in their duties, saying dishonesty of people in charge of these cases had been a problem to the system.