Plea-bargaining: Is Nigeria on the right track? KAYODE KETEFE "I hereby sentence the accused to a term of six months' imprisonment and a fine of 500,000 naira (3,846 US dollars) on each of the eight counts against him. In the charge preferred against him in 2005 by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, under the Money Laundering Prohibition Act, Balogun was said to have incorporated some companies to loot the police treasury through bribes and kickbacks on contracts. He was further alleged to have withdrawn billions of naira fraudulently from the police accounts and transferred and fraudulently used same to buy shares, landed properties and foreign currency. After some successful sessions of plea bargaining, the numerous counts of offences against him were collapsed into a 'manageable' eight counts and despite the fact that a relatively sizeable number of properties and assets were ordered seized, many commentators nonetheless believed that there was a disconnect between the severity of the offences and the penal consequences and that the judgment was nothing but a mere slap on the wrist. Other famous cases where the invocation of plea-bargaining had procured apparently whittled down penal outcomes included the cases of the former Managing Director of the Oceanic Bank, Mrs. Cecilia Ibru; the former Governor of Edo State, Mr. Lucky Igbinedion, and the former Governor of Bayelsa State, Mr. Diespreye Alamieyeseigha. The case of Igbinedion specifically baffled many observers. The former Edo governor was charged with stealing up to N4.4 billion. But he plea-bargained his way out! In the ruling delivered by a Federal High Court in Enugu, Igbinedion was fined a paltry N3.5 million. In addition to the fine, Igbinedion was ordered to forfeit only three properties to the Federal government. He paid the fine and walked out a free man. These and other important cases have made an average Nigerians to develop skepticism about the controversial doctrine of plea bargaining. But only last Monday, the debate on the appropriateness of the notion of plea-bargaining in our criminal justice disposal system was revived. This was a fallout of the case of an Assistant Director with the Police Pension Board, John Yakubu Yusuf, who was sentenced to a prison term of two years with an option of N750,000 as fine for the three-count charge of conspiracy and stealing of N32.8bn from the police pension funds. The presiding judge, Justice, Justice Mohammed Talba, , also ruled that the convict must forfeit a total of 32 properties to the government. What then happened? Yusuf paid the fine on the spot and breezed out of the courtroom in style- now a free man! This judgment expectedly has continued to draw vitriolic reactions from numerous commentators since Monday. Now, what exactly is plea-bargaining? It is a kind of arrangement where the prosecution enters into some form of compromise agreement with accused enabling the latter to plead guilty to some lesser offences than those originally leveled against him with a view to enable the prosecution secure a faster conviction. Although now a popular feature in our criminal justice system, Plea bargaining was never contained in black and white in any law in Nigeria (until recently when Lagos State introduced it in its Administration of Justice Law, 2008. A number of criticisms could be raised against our use of this concept. To start with, it could be said that it indirectly aids corruption by giving 'soft landing' to the accused persons who would escape the full wrath of the law. Secondly, since plea bargaining is not procedurally regulated by the law, it may be claimed that the negotiation between the prosecution and the accused is subject to whims and caprices of the prosecution and situation may arise where too lenient a negotiation may lead to the offences being outrageously watered down. Thirdly it may encourage a situation where the accused may steal recklessly, hoping to part with a percentage of the stolen assets in the ensuing plea bargaining while keeping some to be enjoyed after serving a light sentence of imprisonment that may be imposed on him! On the other hand, plea bargaining seems to have some advantages, too! These include the much-touted expedient prosecution of the accused which might otherwise take prolonged period. Secondly plea bargaining could lead to substantial recovery of the stolen asset as was the case in the Balogun and Ibru's cases where assets worth hundreds of billions of naira were recovered. Lastly, plea bargaining tends to ensure certainty of punishment because whenever the accused pleads guilty conviction will naturally follow. In the developed countries like the United States where Plea-bargaining strategy is also used, it is often employed to aid justice rather than to hinder. Therefore, a law ought to be enacted by the National and state assemblies to define the application and procedure for the doctrine of plea bargaining in Nigeria to make it an ally instead of an enemy of justice. |
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