BY ANKELI EMMANUEL, Sokoto –
Sokoto State Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Aishatu Kaoje, has called for the abolition of the current prison calendar while sentencing convicts in Nigeria.
Aishatu made the call on Thursday during the CLEEN Foundation’s town hall meeting for effective implementation, sustainability of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL) in Nigeria, which was held at Pinnacle Hotel and Resort, Sokoto,
The DPP argued that the prison calendar is not adding value to the justice system.
“In my own view, the prison calendar is not adding value to sentencing weight in the legal system. This is because of the position that 8 months makes a year in the prison circle and not the original 12 months”, she said.
Speaking earlier on the challenges, success stories and lessons learnt in the ACJL implementation, participants who were drawn from the Nigeria Police Force, Ministry of Justice, ACJL monitoring Committee, NBA, Legal Aid Council, CSOs, NCoS, and FIDA amongst others observed that there is the need to put all machinery in place for ACJL unhindered Implementation.
They therefore appealed to the Sokoto State Government to support the ACJL by providing the necessary gadgets to security agencies in the state to help fast track smooth implementation of the ACJL.
Responding to several questions raised by participantsat the town hall meeting, the state Chief Judge, Justice Saidu Sifawa, who was represented by Justice Muawiya Mahmud,submitted that ACJL being procedural law is simply aimed at providing manual for prosecutors, lawyers and judges on how the substantive laws should be applied.
At the end of the 3 day workshop, participants drafted out work plan to include: advocacy visit to the state chief judge, attorney general, judges and magistrates on compliance with Section 16(4) and 17(2), encourage monthly visit to correctional centers.
They also agreed to pay advocacy visit the Sokoto State Government on the need for budgetary allocation for ACJL implementation, as well as visiting the Commissioner of Police for quarterly submission of arrest report to the state attorney general, amongst other issues.
