The authority of the Federal High Court of Nigeria has clarified that the yearly training of its judges in London was neither at the instance of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) nor funded by the organisation.
   
Chief Registrar, Sulaiman Amida Hassan, made the clarification in Abuja, yesterday, following a report in a section of the media, alleging sponsorship of the foreign training by AMCON.
   
He described the media report as a calculated attempt to malign the court and the judges, revealing that the training was bankrolled by the National Judicial Council (NJC) as part of its statutory functions.
   
A statement by the Chief Registrar reads in part: “An online report, dated August 4, 2023 concerning the Federal High Court has caught the attention of the Chief Registrar and by extension, the Chief Judge and judges of the court.
  
 “The report is titled: ‘Controversy Surrounds Flying of Judges to London for Training by Nigeria’s Asset Recovery Agency, AMCON’.  
   
“It desperately sought to misinform undiscerning members of the public that the London trip is a calculated effort by AMCON and Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) to financially induce the judges in the discharge of their duties. 
   
“The malicious portrayal of AMCON as funding the judges’ trip to London for training at a huge expense was nothing short of crass misinformation. The report is entirely false and a figment of the imagination of the reporter. It was designed to malign the image of the Federal High Court.

“It should be noted that the said training was solely organised and paid for by the Federal High Court of Nigeria, funded by the Federal Government through the NJC. 
   
“Had the reporters made the slightest effort to verify such information, they would have known better than to go public with such misdirection. The court operates an open-door policy and information can easily be verified through appropriate channels. 
   
“The Federal High Court considers the reportage as misguided and mischievous. It is apparent from the tone of the publication that the reporters had a predetermined intention to mislead the public by maligning the court and inciting disaffection against it. This is highly unacceptable.”