Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, will launch nationwide deployment and use of Virtual Court Proceedings in the country’s correctional centres.

Malami will launch the pilot project for the deployment and use of Virtual Court Sitting facilities at the Kuje Correctional Centre, Abuja on Monday, December 6.

This is made known by Dr. Umar Jibrilu Gwandu, Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations, Office of the Attorney General of the Federation in a statement made available to the media on Friday.

Expected at the occasion are the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; Controller-General of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Halilu Nababa; as well as members of the Presidential Committee on Correctional Reforms and Decongestion.

The statement noted that the Secretary of the Presidential Committee on Correctional Reforms and Decongestion, Leticia Ayoola-Daniels, working assiduously with the representative of the supporting organization; Mrs. Oyinye Ndubuisi of UNDP, to ensure success of the project.

Gwandu disclosed in the statement that the initiative is one of the strategic interventions by the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice and indeed the Federal Government towards engendering lasting reforms in the Criminal Justice Sector in Nigeria.

He added: “The development is part of the process to implement the Post-Covid-19 Justice Sector Plan marshaled out by the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice in April, 2020.”

He explained that it is in line with the development of the Consolidated Sentencing Guidelines (Custodial and Non-Custodial) Practice Directions, 2020.

“The Ministry in collaboration with the Presidential Committee on Correctional Reforms and Decongestion expedite engagement with the Nigerian Correctional Centres to make it possible for evidence of suspects in custody to be taken without their physical presence in court to avoid disruptions,” he said.

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