Since assuming office, Malam Nasir El Rufai, the Executive Governor of Kaduna state, has brought creativity and innovation into governance. At various times, he has pioneered so many projects and policies, so much that other state governments have come to understudy his administration. Last December, Borno state government had sent a 32-man delegation to study El Rufai’s model of participatory governance. The visit, according to reports, was facilitated the Mercy Corps Nigeria and the aim is to apply Kaduna state experience in tackling poverty and building a secure, productive and just communities in Borno state. Right now, the Mercy Corps is running a peace programme and conflict management and stabilisation in 20 communities in Borno state.
On January 8, Kaduna State Scholarship and Loans Board unfolded what promises to decongest prisons and boost the profile of young lawyers. Surprisingly, this unique art of governance didn’t make the news because the mainstream news media always feast on the negative. In plain words , bad news is good news to them and they feed the audience with it.
In summary, the Kaduna State Scholarship and Loans Board, under this scheme, is out to make social justice accessible to all its citizens. To this end, the board is test-running a programme called ‘’Free an inmate’’ and it explained how it intends to do it on its facebook page. According to the post, the scheme will give awaiting trial inmates access to qualified lawyers at no cost to them. In this regard, the board is inviting qualified ‘’law graduates who gain admission into the Law School, to apply online for sponsorship. They will submit an essay to be scored online. Candidates who pass the essay will have sponsorship for tuition fees and upkeep for a year up to N400,000 while in the Law School.’’ When they graduate, the beneficiaries will serve in the ‘’Free an inmate scheme’’, where they take up one case and see to its conclusion over a period of one year, which is the maximum duration of the scheme. However, any case that exceeds 12 calendar months shall be reviewed by the board, the post revealed.
Significantly, Governor El Rufai has always been passionate about fast tracking the conclusion of cases. In 2018, he had asked the then acting Chief Judge, Justice Muhammadu Lawal Bello, to recruit more judicial officers. Earlier, the government has already granted approval to hire 40 magistrates, in addition to the 70 lawyers that were supposed to be recruited into the Ministry of Justice. The aim of these recruitments is to ease the judicial process, reduce the delays in course of litigation and to enhance speedy resolution of cases.
Likewise, former the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, the late Hajiya Umma Aliyu-Hikima inaugurated the state’s Judicial Monitoring Committee on the Administration of the Criminal Justice Law (ACJL), in an effort to reform the entire judiciary. The 13-member committee, which was headed by Justice Bello, also has representatives of the police, the Nigerian Prisons Service, the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Legal Aid Council of Nigeria and human rights activists, as members. Its mandate was to ensure the prevention of crime and promotion of peace and security. At the inauguration ceremony, the Attorney General had urged members to come up with modalities that would quicken the dispensation of justice and prisons decongestion across the state. Significantly, this is just what the Scholarship and Loans Board is trying to do with its ‘’Free an inmate Scheme.’’.
In the past, before the coming of the Administration of Criminal Justice law, the interests of accused persons were also poorly regarded. Also, previous laws had significant provisions that discriminated against the rights of women and the poor. However, with the emergence of Administration of Criminal Justice Law, the abuse of unlawful arrests by security operatives without a valid arrest warrant is over. In fact, a suspect shall not be arrested unless he is first informed of the reason for the arrest. In addition, the security officer arresting the suspect is also under the obligation to inform him of his rights to remain silent or avoid answering any questions or signing any documents until he has consulted a lawyer. Similarly, the detaining authority also has a legal obligation to inform relatives about the suspect’s arrest.
Under the new law, suspects’ relatives or friends can not be arrested where the said suspects are at large. Specifically section 7 provides that “a person shall not be arrested in place of a suspect.” Also, the law also prohibits the arrest of persons for contract-related offences. Specifically, section 8 , sub section 2 of the act provides that “a person shall not be arrested merely on a civil wrong or breach of contract”.
Significantly, Governor Nasir El Rufai and indeed the Kaduna state House of Assembly should be commended for domesticating the Administration of Criminal Justice Act and instituting a compliance committee. In addition, the various recruitments into the Ministry of Justice have sped up litigation. Likewise, the ‘’Free an inmate Scheme’’ is another creative way of decongesting the prisons, another ‘’First’’ from Governor El Rufai.
Istifanus is a Special Assistant on Media and Communication in Kaduna State Government
