How judges, lawyers thwart recovery of stolen funds —Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has lamented that efforts by government to recover stolen public funds and assets were most times frustrated by corrupt members of the judiciary, and that “allegations of judicial corruption have become more strident and frequent.”
Buhari who stated this on Monday in Abuja at the flag-off the 2015 All Nigeria Judges’ Conference accused corrupt lawyers and judges of sabotaging effort by his administration to recover stolen assets from corrupt former public office holders.
The president who was represented at the event by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, said “Further on point of negative perception, there is both local and international dissatisfaction with the long delays in the trial process. In the past few years, this has become especially so for high-profile cases of corruption, especially where they involve serving or former political office holders.
“As my lords are undoubtedly aware, corruption transfers from public coffers to private pockets, resources required to deliver social and economic justice.
“Government’s attempts to recover such assets in accordance with the law are often faced with dilatory tactics by lawyers sometimes with the apparent collusion of judges.
“These tactics are often not directed at reaching any conclusion or affirming innocence or guilt, but at stalling trials indefinitely, thus denying the state and the accused person the opportunity of a judicial verdict. I wish to echo the sentiments of the vast majority of Nigerians in saying that we cannot afford to continue on this path.”

Read also: Special courts : Looters consider plea bargaining as escape route

Buhari called for a total reform of the Justice sector, even as he noted, delays or outright inaction in some high-profile corruption cases are consequences of shoddy investigations, outmoded rules of procedure, poor prosecution or unprofessional practices of defence counsel.

He, however, maintained that the judiciary must play its role in ensuring that its internal processes are promptly improved and made ready to expedite trials.
According to him, “Delays in the trial process have damaged the international reputation of the Nigerian Judiciary, even amongst its international peers”.
Earlier, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, blamed the seeming low performance of the judiciary on underfunding.
He harped on need for fiscal and physical independence of the Nigeria judiciary, saying: “In a country where an arm of government is appropriated with less than one percent of the national budget, it is difficult to refer to our judiciary as being truly independent.”

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