Posted by By Ibanga Isine, Abuja on
The Office of the Chief Justice of Nigeria was on Tuesday accused of delaying investigation into allegations of corruption levelled against 24 state governors.
The Office of the Chief Justice of Nigeria was on Tuesday accused of delaying investigation into allegations of corruption levelled against 24 state governors.
The Chairman of Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, Justice Emmanuel Ayoola, told the House of Representatives that long after the cases were referred to the CJN, independent counsel were yet to be appointed to handle them.
He said the commission had received 37 petitions against state governors in the last nine months.
Ayoola, who appeared before the House Committee on Anti-Corruption, National Ethics and Values, also noted that the commission was investigating over 200 cases of corruption brought to its attention.
He agreed that even where the CJN had appointed independent counsel to handle allegations of corruption against the governors, the commission lacked the funds to pay for their services.
He added that the allocation to the commission under the 2006 budget did not capture such expenditure.
Again, he said the ICPC Act did not empower the commission to investigate allegations of corruption against state governors and their deputies but to refer such petitions to the CJN.
The chairman referred to the provision of the Act, which empowers the CJN to appoint independent lawyers to handle allegations of corruption against the President and the vice-president as well as governors and their deputies.
The ICPC chairman added that during the last nine months, the commission initiated 24 cases of corruption in the courts, while other cases were being processed.
He said, "The number of cases we have initiated during the last nine months is equivalent to the number recorded by the commission in 2004 and 2005.
"We have received more petitions more petitions in the last nine months than what we received in the past from every part of the country."