Osinbajo inaugurates National Prosecution Coordination C'ttee

The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo is ex­pected to inaugurate the National Prosecution Coor­dination Committee (NPCC) which is primarily charged with handling high profile cases that have public interest elements in Nigeria.

The formation of the Com­mittee, which will be inau­gurated on Friday, 27th May, 2016 at the Presidential Villa, according to its spokesman, Comrade Salihu Othman Isah is pursuant to the powers vest­ed on the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN) as the nation’s Chief Law Officer as contained in Section 174(1) of the 1999 Constitu­tion.

 “The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under Section 174(1) vested the powers on the Attorney-General of the Federation to in­stitute and undertake criminal proceedings against any person before any court of law in Nige­ria, other than a Court Martial, in respect of any offence cre­ated by or under any Act of the National Assembly.

The HAGF is also to take over and continue any such criminal proceedings that may have been instituted by any other authority or person. He is equally charged to discontinue at any stage before judgment is delivered any such criminal proceedings instituted or un­dertaken by him or any other authority or person. This is the position of the Constitution.”

Comrade Isah, who doubles as the Media Adviser to the Attorney-General of the Fed­eration and Minister of Justice, revealed in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday, that the 19-man Committee is charged with the efficient, effective and result oriented prosecution of high profile criminal cases in the country.

According to him, the Com­mittee is also to guarantee prompt contact and synergy between investigators and the prosecutors of high profile criminal cases, manage infor­mation to the public on such cases as well as to ensure strict compliance to the Administra­tion of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015.