National Prosecution Committee takes over high-profile cases

All high profile cases across government agencies with prosecutorial power are submitting high-profile cases in court to the National Prosecution Coordination Committee.

Justice Minister and Attorney -General of the Federation Abubakar Malami gave the directive yesterday, according to NAN.

This, he said, was with a view to determining which of them falls within the category of high profile cases to be taken over by the National Prosecution Coordination Committee (NPCC).

A statement issued by his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Salisu Isah, said Malami gave the directive when he met with the various agencies in his office on Monday. Isah also heads the NPCC communications and public affairs.

Mr. Malami, who is the Minister of Justice, briefed them on the existence of the committee, adding that the meeting was to fashion out a synergy between the committee and the agencies.

The NPCC Head of Communication and Public Affairs said Malami’s message was read by Sylvester Imhanobe, the Special Assistant to the president on Research and Special Project.

Mr. Imhanobe, who is also the secretary of the committee, used the occasion to inform the agencies of the objectives for setting up the prosecution committee.

The AGF explained that for a case to be tagged high profile, it must have overriding public interest elements, but that ultimately, he determined what case was tagged a high profile case.

He added that sometimes, the quantum of value of a case and its sensitivity also influenced whether a case was a high profile case or not.

Members of the committee are mainly his aides as well as eight external members selected on the basis of experience and expertise. Agencies’ heads are no part of the NPCC because they run busy schedules already.

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He said it was important for cooperation and synergy between the committee and the agencies to be consistent with the mandate of President Muhammadu Buhari in the anti-graft war.

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The Special Assistant to the President on Coordination and International Affairs under the Federal Ministry of Justice, Pius Oteh, chaired the meeting.

Mr. Oteh said the AGF saw the need for coordination and cooperation between the NPCC and agencies with prosecutorial and investigative powers.

The agencies present at the meeting were the Nigeria Police Force, Department of State Services, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Independent Corrupt Practices & other related offences Commission and the Federal Inland Revenue Service.