The federal government says it is doing away with plea bargain in the prosecution of criminal cases. The method allows suspects plead guilty to lesser charges in criminal cases and it has been used in the country in corruption cases to enable government recover part of funds stolen by high profile suspects in exchange for lesser jail terms.

Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN) who disclosed this today said the federal government has constituted a formidable team of public prosecutors to prosecute corruption cases in various courts in the country.

Malami who made the disclosure while receiving the BringBackOurGirls campaign movement in his office said government was not ready to make compromises on terrorism and financial crimes.

The group was at the minister’s office to engage him on a number of issues that bordered on securing the abducted girls from Boko Haram captivity. He re-stated President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment to bring all corrupt persons to book.

“We have put in place a national prosecution team that comprises all stakeholders for the purposes of ensuring the success of what charge is presented before the courts.

“The committee will be saddled with the responsibility of preferring relevant charges and ensuring that charges are preferred in line with the dictates of the law without compromises”, he said.

He noted that corruption cases under past administrations in the country were deliberately compromised during investigation in order to pave way for criminal elements to escape the long arm of the law. Malami however assured that steps had been taken to audit such cases with a view to bringing the culprits to justice.

His words “It is not just about having a team that will be prosecuting but ensuring that relevant audit is taken as it relates to previous prosecution to ensure that those that are found wanting are brought to book, and then the future of prosecution in this country is further enhanced by having in place an effective legal team that will involve legal drafters for efficient drafting of charges, efficient investigators that will ensure that adequate proof of evidence that will establish the required ingredients of an offence are put in place, and then competent prosecutors that will now ensure that the required proofs are presented before relevant courts for the purpose of establishing guilt.”

On the issue of plea-bargaining as raised by the convener of the group, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, the AGF expressed his abhorrence for the policy and pledged the government’s commitment not to compromise the fight against terrorism and financial crimes.

“I cannot imagine someone been responsible for monumental deaths of our citizens and then going scot-free arising from plea-bargain as a policy. It has never been the policy of the government to make compromises on terrorism and financial crimes. It will never be tolerated by the office of the AGF.”

He described the abduction of the school girls as “tormenting and psychologically traumatisisng” for the nation.

“It is tragic for a nation to have a budget meant for arms procurement for the protection of lives and property of the citizens, and end up not having the arms but compromising the process of making adequate provisions for the protection of lives of its citizens.

“The government of President Muhammadu Buhari has demonstrated sufficient skill and commitment to the protection of lives and property within the shortest practicable time of coming into existence, it has recorded tremendous success including confronting Sambisa forest head-on with the hope of rescuing the Chibok girls.”

Earlier, the group’s convener and former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili told the AGF that the inefficient governance of the immediate past government was largely responsible for the tragedy of the Chibok girls.

She recalled that since the advocacy for the Chibok girls began in April 2014, no concrete step was taken by the ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration to secure the safe return of the girls.

“In the movement, we over time realised that it is the failure of governance that resulted in the abduction of the Chibok girls and that corruption was the key obstacle to the rescue of the girls.

“To that effect, therefore, we believe that in recent times and the revelations that have followed, it is clear that there is a lot your office must do in order to establish a framework that assures Nigerians that every bad behaviour that took place and facilitated the abduction of the girls and every bad behaviour that impeded their immediate release must be fully prosecuted.

“The matter of disclosure of the Presidential Taskforce report on the fact-finding mission into the veracity of the abduction is key and urgent. This will put paid to the saying by some people that the Chibok girls’ abduction is a scam. How can the tragedy of the Chibok girls be scam when the government under which it happened instituted an inquiry into it, and there are parents who are crying that their children are not yet back? Their children are still with terrorists and their fellow citizens dare to call their experience a scam. The government owes it a duty to the girls under captivity, their parents, to the community of Chibok, the movement and to all well-meaning Nigerians that that report be transparently disclosed in its entirety so we will know exactly what made it possible for our Chibok girls to have been abducted”, Ezekwesili said