Recovered Loot Can Be Used To Improve Funding For Justice Ministry – Malami

Abubakar Malami, minister of justice and attorney-general of the federation (AGF), has told the House of Representatives members that poor funding is dangerous for the ministry and parastatals under it.

He said inadequate funding of the ministry will negatively affect the effective administration of justice in the country.

Malami stated this on Monday when he appeared before the house of representatives committee on justice to defend the 2022 budget proposal of the ministry of justice.

The minister said: “The rule of law as practised all over the world is the pivot upon which democracy revolves. The justice sector as presently constituted is bedevilled by funding inadequacies, too much for our comfort,”

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“The prime drivers of any given maturing democracy such as ours, are the rule of law, due process of the law, human rights, international obligations and allied matters. Evidence reveals that the administration of justice which guarantees sustainable peace, equity and fair play is undeniably capital intensive. In this circumstance, we need to reconceptualise the existing funding pattern of the justice sector.

“Lamentably, however, practically all the parastatals under the purview of the federal ministry of justice are in dire need of funding. For me, this is as dangerous as it is disturbing because funding gaps in the face of competing challenges could endanger the effective administration of justice, and cause an unwarranted travesty of justice.

“The ministry was mandated to embark on the recovery of looted assets and we have recorded an appreciable milestone in this regard as monies recovered are promptly deposited into government treasury, thereby increasing the revenue profile of the government.

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“Presently, we are making efforts to ensure that we are allocated some cost of collection from recovered funds to finance our recovery operations.

“To date, there are large sums of illicit money stashed abroad for which we are working at close quarters with ICPC, and EFCC as dependable allies to effect recovery.”