President Bola Tinubu has urged Nigerian judges to close procedural loopholes that politically uncovered individuals and organised crime suspects exploit to delay or frustrate felony trials.
He stated the struggle in opposition to corruption would make little progress with out an impartial judiciary keen to adapt to rising types of monetary crime.
Mr Tinubu spoke on Tuesday in Abuja on the eighth annual capacity-building workshop for judges and justices organised by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the National Judicial Institute (NJI). He was represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima.
“Probe prosecution strategies, dismantle outdated precedents, and seal procedural gaps that politically exposed persons and organised crime actors exploit to delay or frustrate trial,” the president stated.
In a press release shared with PREMIUM TIMES on Wednesday by Stanley Nkwocha, the media aide to the vp, Mr Tinubu defined that corruption was not the accountability of the chief alone, because it affected all arms of presidency and the broader society.
“We must no longer permit legal pyrotechnics and procedural pedantry to shelter criminality,” he stated.
He urged judges to be certain that authorized procedures didn’t change into a protect for wrongdoing, including that the courts should uphold the general public curiosity.
Digital crimes pose new challenges
Mr Tinubu stated advances in blockchain expertise and synthetic intelligence had made monetary crimes extra subtle, requiring investigators, prosecutors and judges to strengthen their capability to reply.
At the workshop, themed “Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Financial Crimes in a Digital Age”, he cited the EFCC’s restoration of cryptocurrency and different digital belongings as proof of progress in tackling technology-related monetary crimes.
According to the president, the fee secured the forfeiture of $22,417.91 price of Bitcoin, 1,001,301.87 USDT in digital belongings and $5.6 million linked to the CBEX scheme in 2025.
He additionally said that 192 overseas nationals arrested for cyberterrorism and cryptocurrency fraud had been prosecuted and deported.
Mr Tinubu urged the judiciary to enhance its capability to deal with instances involving digital proof and digital belongings, warning that the justice system risked falling behind technological developments.
He recommended Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Kudirat Kekere-Ekun for her efforts to reform the judiciary and pledged the federal authorities’s assist for bettering justice supply within the digital age.
CJN requires higher case administration
In her remarks on the occasion, Ms Kekere-Ekun said that technological developments had modified how digital proof was obtained and recorded, making efficient case administration more and more necessary.
She stated continued coaching for judicial officers was serving to to enhance case administration and the administration of justice.
The Senate Committee Chairman on Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes, Emmanuel Udende, famous that the workshop was well timed given the rising sophistication of monetary crimes, significantly instances involving politically uncovered individuals.
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He stated the National Assembly would proceed to assist the struggle in opposition to corruption via laws.
The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, represented by the Director of Public Prosecution, Rotimi Oyedepo, referred to as for larger cooperation amongst authorities establishments and different stakeholders.
Mr Fagbemi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) urged judges and attorneys to use the workshop to enhance their capability to assist thorough investigations and diligent prosecutions.
The Administrator of the NJI, Babatunde Adejumo, stated the institute’s partnership with the EFCC had change into an necessary a part of efforts to strengthen the judiciary’s response to monetary crimes.
EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede said that the workshop was an necessary a part of each establishments’ annual programmes.
He stated the fee had recorded vital convictions and monetary recoveries over the previous three years and burdened the necessity for recovered funds and belongings to be managed transparently.
Mr Olukoyede additionally expressed concern that technological developments had been advancing sooner than the authorized instruments out there to examine and prosecute monetary crimes.
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