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Civil society groups urge government to sack prosecutors of delayed cases

By Charles Ogugbuaja
05 July 2016   |   1:36 am
A Coalition of 40 Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and some media practitioners have urged the Federal Government to sack all the prosecutors of the cases of corruption lingering in the various courts for over three years.
Civil Society Organizations

Civil Society Organizations

A Coalition of 40 Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and some media practitioners have urged the Federal Government to sack all the prosecutors of the cases of corruption lingering in the various courts for over three years.

“Private prosecutors, who are unable to conclude corruption cases that have lingered for three years should be quickly disengaged and replaced by more active ones”, they said.

The group also suggested that the anti- corruption drive should be taken to the local levels and that the issue of anti-corruption should be consistent.

The group in a statement signed by Executive Director of the Citizens Centre for Integrated Development and Social Rights (CCIDESOR), Mr. Emeka Ononamadu; Director of Media Rights Agenda, Edetaen Ojo and others, expressed their worries over more than 30 cases of not less than N1.3 trillion, which involved some ex -governors and public office holders left lingering without hope of deciding them.

The CSO also advised that the processes of investigation, trial, conviction or plea-bargaining should be transparent and incentives, adding that protection should be provided for anti- corruption whistle blowers.

They urged the National Assembly to expedite passage of the Whistle Blowers protection Bill.
Participants at the program include: Programme Manager of the J4A, Emma Uche, who opined that corruption in Nigeria had retarded the growth of the country, adding that it needed to be fought frontally due to the damage it has on the image of the nation.

Dr. Isabella Ada Ezeh, of Department of Theatre and Film Studies at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in her presentation “Legal Status of unresolved high profile corruption cases in Nigeria, Strategies and prospects of resolving them”, wondered why the alleged N7 billion offered to religious leaders by the immediate past administration of Goodluck Jonathan was yet to be probed.

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