CLEEN Foundation, with funding from MacArthur Foundation, has pushed for the implementation of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) in Nigeria.
Entitled: ‘Enhancing the Accountability of Justice Sector Actors in the Mitigation of Corruption in Nigeria’, the project, being implemented across Edo, Delta, Bauchi, Sokoto, Katsina, Jigawa, Kwara and Cross River states, is aimed at improving the compliance level to the provisions of ACJA in Nigeria through strategic stakeholder engagements, tracking of compliance level and continuous sensitisation.
Thirty-three states including Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Lagos, Kano, Edo and Cross River have domesticated the ACJA and it has helped to improve access to legal representation, reduce corruption and faster case processing among others.
Programme Manager of CLEEN Foundation, Chigozirim Okoro, during the media training and sensitisation in Lagos, stressed the need for proactive and vigilant stakeholders’ collaboration with anti-corruption agencies to energise them to improve performance.
She further noted, however, that the credibility and effectiveness of the fight against corruption would depend greatly on the exemplary behaviour of the anti-corruption agencies and the nature of the states in Nigeria.
“The overall goal of ACJA is to improve criminal justice system in Nigeria,” she said.
Human Resource/Legal Officer of CLEEN Foundation, Ifeyinwa Akwiwu, spoke on the key issues affecting the implementation of the ACJA, some of which are irregularities in taking witness statements, constraints in daily adjournment and illegality of law enforcement agents in civil matters.
She also proposed some policy recommendations, part of which are enactment of laws to drive the effectiveness of the anti-corruption efforts, appointment of judicial officials on merit, constant training of policing agencies and awareness creation by the media on innovative provisions of the ACJA.
“There are laws, but the implementation and compliance to laws is the difficulty we are confronted with in Nigeria,” she added.
