Nigeria’s Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami has said that the country is to deploy and use of virtual court proceedings in the country’s correctional centres nationwide.
This is contained in a statement by the spokesperson of the minister, Dr. Umar Gwandu on Friday.
To start with, Malami will launch the pilot project at the Kuje Correctional Centre, Abuja on Monday the 6th day of December, 2021.
Expected at the occasion are the Minister of Interior; 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; Oyinye Ndubuisi of the UNDP are working assiduously to ensure 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.
The Ministry in collaboration with the Presidential Committee on Correctional Reforms and Decongestion 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 marshaled out by the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice in April, 2020.
