The Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Danladi Yakub Umar (Justice) has advocated for frequent discussions between the tribunal’s management and its sister agency – the Code of Conduct Bureau to enable identification of the challenges regarding successful prosecution of offenders, who may come before the tribunal.
Danladi Umar gave the suggestions lately when he received a team from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in his office in Abuja. He also said that the two bodies need to sit and discuss their challenges with a view to finding lasting solutions to them.
‘‘We need to sit down and discuss our problems for us to collectively proffer solutions towards effectively combating corruptions in its entirety as it affects public officials. We need to collaborate among ourselves by updating ourselves on our respective mandates to fine-tune areas that are seemingly not understood by the prosecuting counsels of the bureau,” he intensified.
According to him, the tribunal is a court of law established to adjudicate on matters brought before it by the bureau. Bulk of the work, he noted is with the bureau which is to make intelligent presentation of its cases. He inferred that the lawyers in the tribunal do not prosecute, but only act as registry by assisting in the filling of documents to be presented before the tribunal.
“Most of the cases we throw back to them are because of their shabby presentations which are lacking in merits. Of course, we are working for the same government and we are to remain impartial adjudicator, especially when dealing with criminal charges,” the Chairman opined.
Earlier in his remarks, the visiting UNODC Consultant on Anti-corruption, Francis Montil accompanied by the Project Expert / Deputy Project Coordinator, Jesse Wachanga revealed that he was in the tribunal to identify its staff training needs to enable it optimally pursue its mandates in the fight against corruption.
Francis Montil disclosed that training is periodically needed for people who engage in anti-corruption activities for them to learn from other countries with same peculiarities and to enable them perform according to global best practices. Adding, the synergy across all stakeholders is imperative in this effort.
In another development, the visiting team met with the management team of the tribunal on a close door session to hear from them on the efficacy of the agency operations and their training needs.
Support InfoStride News' Credible Journalism: Only credible journalism can guarantee a fair, accountable and transparent society, including democracy and government. It involves a lot of efforts and money. We need your support. Click here to Donate