THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has submitted a bill to the National Assembly to legalise the controversial concept of plea-bargaining.

Chairman of the commission, Mr Ibrahim Lamorde, made this known on Monday, in a paper delivered at a training programme organised by the National Association of Judiciary Correspondents (NAJUC), Abuja branch, in collaboration with Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI) and Settlement House, held in Abuja.

In a paper delivered on his behalf by the Director of Legal Services, Mrs Elizabeth Ayodele, Lamorde said “it should be noted that except in Lagos State, there is no legal provision in Nigeria directly empowering the prosecution to enter into plea bargaining with persons accused of a crime.

“It is desirable, in view of the controversial nature of plea bargaining and the possibility of abuse inherent therein, to clearly regulate its practice by law. There are steps already being taken in this direction.


http://sturvs.com/382894/efcc-moves-to-legalise-plea-bargaining/

notin we nor go here for nairaland

He s just starting,

will they ever consider it?

The only plea-bargain we will accept is that the thieving public official would return all, i mean every single kobo he stole before having his sentence reduced or freed. He will have to sell all his assets if need be. We will not accept it if they return just about 5% while having enough to just sit back and enjoy their loot.
I'm curious as to how the NASS will handle this bill. There are a lot of thieves there too.

Wrong move efcc. . . I suggest total abolishment of P.B!!

Plea bargaining??  What is reason for this new proposal?  Plea bargaining wil create loop holes for criminals to get minimum sentence for their cooperation or confession to crimes that would independently be uncovered by forensic or track records outside of an offered cooperation and confession.  Plea bargain is an instrument used by the courts and the prosecuting team to institutionalize an otherwise illegitimate policy of discrimination against political blocs.  Oh my God, education is a curse on the African soil.

The nass has to accept but e go 50-50 deal. #Thieves

I agree with dudu_negro. Plea bargain is not an entirly bad concept but in Nigeria that we have a way of turning ordinarily good things to bad, we go abuse am. I blve it'll embolden corrupt public officials to loot even more knowing full well that they can always wangle there way out thru PB. It'll also make the anti-corruption become a bit lax in there investigations. There's no doubt that it'll lead to a higher number of convictions but at what cost to the national treasury and psychy?

it is a welcome development in their bid to legalise corruption. all these jokes will continue until revolution arrives. these criminals/cabals are taking us for granted.

Ha ahha ah ahahah aha This is evidently a FRESH idea. Let me guess. A corrupt government official fleeces hsi office of (let's say) N50 billion knowing that when he leaves office (outside the protection of Nigeria's Immunity clause for "Corrupt" public officers) he will simply plea-bargain N10 billion and be aquitted of all charges. FG will still be happy to get back N10 billion out of the N50 billion - more realistically compare Lucky Igbenidions N3 million naira plea-bargain for stealing N3 billion .

The concept no bad but really what is the benefit of this to the Nigerian Justice System - More to the point, how is closure achieved for those who suffer from the misdeeds of corrupt public officials Nigeria(ns) sink deeper each day - is there no end to this full-faced deception

It will now legalize monumental stealing and highest corruption

i learnt that in US this is how the plea bargaining works. : it is only after everything they identified as having been acquired outside what could be your legitimate income is returned that they now begin to talk about a lighter sentence. this is the way to go. the onus is on the thief to return everything first before they even begin any negotiation. - could someone shed more light.

Please I need a lawyer in the house who's knowledgeable in issues like this to explain further.

Its quite unfortunate that a couple of people here have quickly judged and condemned Lamorde's move without even having a single idea of what this 'Plea Bargain' really means.

obailala:

Please I need a lawyer in the house who's knowledgeable in issues like this to explain further.

Its quite unfortunate that a couple of people here have quickly judged and  condemned Lamorde's move without even having a single idea of what this 'Plea Bargain' really means.

Then you are among the few likely to support it.  . You do agree a lot needs to be done on our Justice System in Nigeria do you not? to a point where the public feeling is that Crime actually pays, and well. do not misunderstand resistance of Public Opinion for lack of knowledge - Do you know how many convicted/charged public officials that are walking free (Some elected Governors, Senators etc) and somehow you think it strange that people would rise up against PB Bill

http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-procedure/plea-bargain-pros-and-cons.html

[size=18pt]Plea Bargain Pros and Cons[/size]

Although plea bargaining is often criticized, more than 90 percent of criminal convictions come from negotiated pleas. Thus, less than ten percent of criminal cases go to trial. So, what are the incentives behind plea bargaining? Below is a look from the points of view of different players in the criminal justice system.

Judges' Incentives for Accepting a Plea Bargain

For judges, the key incentive for accepting a plea bargain is to alleviate the need to schedule and hold a trial on an already overcrowded docket. Judges are also aware of prison overcrowding and may be receptive to the "processing out" of offenders who are not likely to do much jail time anyway.

Prosecutors' Incentive to Engage in Plea Bargaining

For prosecutors, a lightened caseload is equally attractive. But more importantly, plea bargaining assures a conviction, even if it is for a lesser charge or crime. No matter how strong the evidence may be, no case is a foregone conclusion. Prosecutors often wage long and expensive trials but lose, as happened in the infamous O. J. Simpson murder trial.

Moreover, prosecutors may use plea bargaining to further their case against a co-defendant. They may accept a plea bargain arrangement from one defendant in return for damaging testimony against another. This way, they are assured of at least one conviction (albeit on a lesser charge) plus enhanced chances of winning a conviction against the second defendant.

Defendants' Incentive to Plea Bargain

For a defendant in a criminal case, plea bargaining provides the opportunity for a lighter sentence on a less severe charge, and to have fewer (or less serious) offenses listed on a criminal record. If thay are represented by private counsel, defendants also save the monetary costs of a lengthy trial by accepting a plea bargain.

Thats more like legalising looting and coruption these politicians, will always loot and find a way around with plea bargain.

EFCC should fight for the removal of immunity clause and a maximum of death sentence for all corrupt govt officials, just do that and watch corruption disappear.

Next will be capital corruption. Steal N100B and clear your name with N10B and EFCC would take all the glories. I've said my mind.

The Glory of EFCC went with Ribadu. I can see demand for compromising with the looters by the new kangaroo EFCC. What a wrong step in a wrong direction.

EFCC should be scraped for good. They have turned into business. The more you can settle with cash(bargain) the quicker you are likely to be removed from their wanted list. What a bad move!

wat d hell? Do dy mean dy ve been carryinout illegal plea bargain b4 nw? Dis country, our generation of 35 to 70 years are redards, slowpoke,corrupt nd tribalist sets of human beings.