Buhari Expresses Concern Over Nigeria’s Criminal Justice System

Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari, has expressed concern over the nation’s criminal justice system, saying it has been a hindrance to credibility.

He identified delay in court process as a situation that had made offenders not to account for their misdeeds.

The president in his address at the graduation ceremony of senior executive course 38 of National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies in Kuru, Jos, told the judiciary to develop a blueprint for a justice system that would speed up dispensation of justice without delay.

President Buhari, who was represented by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, revisited the challenges of law and order as well as the importance of having a vibrant and speedy criminal justice system in Nigeria.

“Our system of criminal justice from investigation to prosecution and adjudication by the courts need to be re-engineered.

“The long delay in the entire process has impaired the credibility of our capacity to hold offenders to account for their misdeeds.

“I have charged the judiciary often and I do so again for the task of developing a firm blueprint for a justice system that works, a system that will give us results,” the president stressed.

The Acting Director General of the Institute, Mr Jonathan Juma, expressed confident that recommendations and implementations strategies contained in the report would be considered by the government.

The National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru in Jos, North Central region of Nigeria, is the nation’s foremost policy and had its graduation for participants of senior executive course 38 after a ten month intensive research through lectures, seminars, discussions and study tours within and outside the country, with the theme, ‘Strengthening Institutional Mechanisms for Poverty Reduction and Inclusive Development in Nigeria.

The national institute was established in 1979 and has since produced a total of 1,847 top-level policy and strategy experts who have contributed positively to national development in various sectors.