Onnoghen: We Have 1,124 Ongoing Corruption Cases

A total of 1,124 corruption cases have been forward to the National Judicial Council (NJC) for speedy trial in the proposed special corruption courts across the country.

Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, made the disclosure yesterday in Abuja at the formal inauguration of the Corruption and Other Financial Crimes Cases Trials Monitoring Committee (COTRIMCO).

The committee which is headed by a former Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Suleiman Galadima (rtd), apart from monitoring the proceedings of high profile corruption cases at the various courts, is also expected to propose practice directions that would help uproot all encumbrances to the speedy trial of corruption cases in the courts.

Following the stance of President Muhammadu Buhari on corruption in the country, a lot of alleged looters of the country’s resources have been arrested and currently undergoing trials in various courts across the country.

However, two years down the line, little or nothing has been achieved in the prosecution of these cases in courts, prompting a larger number of the public to allude that the judiciary is corrupt.

“As I stated recently, the society we serve appears dissatisfied with our performance, and we must neither dismiss nor relegate these rising criticisms as mere sentiments or unfounded accusations devoid of substance.

“We must rise and protect the dignity and integrity of our judicial system,” he said.

The CJN stated that consequent upon this, the NJC decided to initiate far-reaching measures that would eradicate delays in the trials of corruption and other economic crime cases in the courts.