Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, is to launch a nationwide deployment and use of Virtual Court Proceedings in Nigeria’s Correctional Centres.
This was made known by Dr. Umar Jibrilu Gwandu, Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations, Office of the Attorney General of the Federation in a statement issued to newsmen on Friday the 3rd of December, 2021.
According to the statement, Malami is to launch the pilot project for the deployment and use of Virtual Court Sitting facilities at the Kuje Correctional Centre, Abuja on Monday the 6th day of December 2021.
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Expected at the occasion are the Honourable Minister of Interior; Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, the Controller – General of the Nigerian Correctional Service; Halilu Nababa as well as members of the Presidential Committee on Correctional Reforms and Decongestion.
The Secretary of the Presidential Committee on Correctional Reforms and Decongestion, Leticia Ayoola-Daniels working with the representative of the supporting organization; Mrs Oyinye Ndubuisi of the UNDP are working assiduously to ensure the achievement of the laudable project.
According to Dr Gwandu, the initiative is one of the strategic interventions by the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice and indeed the Federal Government towards engendering lasting reforms in the Criminal Justice Sector in Nigeria.
He said the development of the Consolidated Sentencing Guidelines (Custodial and Non-Custodial) Practice Directions, 2020, in collaboration with the Presidential Committee on Correctional Reforms and Decongestion would expedite engagement with the Nigerian Correctional Centres to make it possible for evidence of suspects in custody to be taken without their physical presence in court to avoid disruptions.
According to the statement, the development is part of the process to implement the Post-Covid-19 Justice Sector Plan marshalled out by the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice in April 2020.