INDEPENDENT NG
The Nasarawa State Attorney General and commissioner for justice Barrister Labaran Shuiabu Magaji, has explained why dispensed justice is delayed in Nigeria’s criminal justice system.
Barrister Magaji, gave the explanation while playing host with the Correspondent’s Chapel of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Nasarawa State Chapter who paid him a courtesy visit in his office in the state capital.
The Attorney General narrated that,” The delay in dispenses of criminal justice were from the side of defense lawyers and how did they do it, like I said the accused person has the same right and freedom of movement. So guided by this right and this right is constitutional you will see defense Counsel will almost every day bring a motion for bail or they would bring a motion to quash the charge or they will say the judge is biased then they would transfer the case to another judge then come up with another motion to delay the dispense of the case.
“In fact, I had a case in the defense lawyer of Nnadi Kanu asked the judge to disqualify me as a prosecutor from prosecuting the case, what was his reason, that I’m a member of the Department of State Security Service DSS.
“We had to take adjournment and I wrote counter affidavits attached my ID to prove to them that I’m a prosecutor and I could not move.
“So, what are saying sometimes is not what happened, is the time spent in this kind of frivolous application.
“The challenge is coming from the defense lawyers, sometimes your case is not in the court dairy, some days the judge might have up to 30 cases for that day, tomorrow he might have up to 15, the next day, he might have up 20, respectively.
