Punch:Appeal against verdict on Ibori, NBA tells EFCC
The appellate court had held that suspects were better tried in places where they committed the offence.
But the NBA said the development could have negative effect on the prosecution of persons currently standing trial for alleged corruption and money laundering.
The President of the association, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) said this when the Chairman of the EFCC, Mrs Farida Waziri, led the management staff and members of the board of the commission on a courtesy visit to the national secretariat of the NBA in Lagos.
A statement by the EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Babafemi, also quoted the NBA boss as promising to recommend competent lawyers that could bolster the legal team of the anti-graft agency. He, however, warned against the practice of appointing as a prosecutor, a lawyer that was already defending a client against the commission to avoid the conflict of interest that could arise.
He said, ”We know of one or two people today who are prosecuting and defending. That is not right.”
Akeredolu also expressed relief over Waziri‘s explanation that she was ‘betrayed‘ in the plea bargaining arrangement that culminated in the conviction of former Governor of Edo State, Lucky Igbinedion.
He said he could have been scandalised as a plea bargaining presupposes that the parties had reached some kind of understanding.
To avoid such confusion in the future, Akeredolu suggested a workshop on plea bargaining that would be jointly organised by the commission and the NBA.
But Waziri had urged the NBA to prevail on its senior members to assist the commission in the prosecution of high profile cases stalled in various courts across the country.
She lamented that some of the EFCC’s cases in court had dragged unnecessarily.
Waziri also blamed the situation on the antics of some senior members of the Bar whom she said were in the habit of exploiting the weakness of the nation‘s judicial processes to file frivolous applications to frustrate the trial of suspects for corruption and money laundering.
