Bawa Meets CJN, Appeal Court President Over Corruption Cases

The chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, has met with the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Tanko Muhammad, and the President of the Court of Appeal, Monica Dongban-Mensem.

Naija News gathered that Bawa met with Muhammad and Dongban-Mensem on Tuesday in Abuja in order to familarise himself with the judiciary arm of government.

Also, Bawa met with the two judges to get the support and endorsement of the judiciary in the fight against corruption in the country.

A source at the meeting told PREMIUM TIMES that Bawa raised concerns about Nigerian courts’ handling of corruption cases with the jurists.

The source said the EFCC chairman appealed to the CJN and Appeal court president to impress it on judges to be strict in the application of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015 to remove the delays often suffered by the criminal cases, particularly, the high-profile corruption matters.

He then appealed to them to designate courts to handle exclusively corruption and financial crimes, an arrangement he believes will boost speedy hearing and determination of such cases.

Bawa also advised the judges to work on the setback often caused by indiscriminate transfer or elevation of judges to higher courts.

The EFCC boss also urged the CJN to ensure that when judges are being elevated, the cases being handled by them are taken into account.

He added that trial judges should also not be transferred in a way that would jeopardize their part-heard criminal cases.

Bawa also requested that the time of retirement of judges should also be taken into consideration while assigning cases to them.

In his remark, the CJN promised to address Bawa’s requests and gave the EFCC his support and that of the judiciary in the fight against corruption.

Confirming the meeting, EFCC’s spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, said Bawa met with the CJN and the Court of Appeal president to interface with the judiciary which is a critical stakeholder.

He said, “They are routine meetings a new chairman of the commission usually holds with critical stakeholders involved in the fight against corruption”.

“It is the usual practice for the new EFCC chairman of the commission to interface with critical stakeholders in the fight against corruption, and the judiciary is a critical stakeholder in the fight against corruption,” Uwujaren told PREMIUM TIMES.