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By Lawrence Agbo
According to Senior Advocate of Nigeria Adeboro Adamson, the ICPC acted lawfully, detaining the former Kaduna governor, El-Rufai, with possible 14-day court extensions.
The Senior Advocate made the statement on ARISE News on Monday.
He clarified that the detention of former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai by the ICPC was lawful, pointing out that the Administration of Criminal Justice Act of 2015 permits suspects to be detained for an initial 14 days, with court-approved extensions of 14 days at a time without public notice.
“Well, let’s look at what the Constitution says first. Yes, we have reference to Section 35 of the 1999 constitution, which says that every Nigerian citizen enjoys the right to liberty of person, and though the right is not absolute, it can be derogated from. There are conditions for the law enforcement agencies to derogate from the provision of the 1999 constitution, that is, Section 35.
“Now, if you look at the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015, particularly Section 293 and 296, it gives the law enforcement agencies the right to apply to a court for a remand order. And the first remand order that the court will grant will last for 14 days, subject to renewal for another 14 days.
“Now, if at the end of 14, 14, that’s 28 days, the law enforcement agency has not concluded investigations, they still have another 14 days. In other words, you have 14 days in three places before that right will be exhausted”, he explained.
Adamson also said: “At the end of 28 days, it is the right of the suspect to approach the court for bail. And if that particular person meets the condition, the court will grant it. But you see, after the 28 days, it becomes a difficult task for the law enforcement agency to secure another 14 days, that’s the third term, because you have to give compelling reasons why you want to keep that person in prison for another 14 days.”
Adamson went on to say that if the ICPC completes its investigation within 14 days, it can prosecute or release the suspect; if not, it can ask the court for another 14-day extension without informing the public.
“If ICPC is done with their investigation within 14 days, they will do whatever they want to do with the suspect. Either to take him to court, to charge him to court, or to allow him to go, to enjoy his freedom. But if there is need for further investigation, or the investigation has not been concluded to the extent of taking that particular suspect to court, then ICPC can go back to court again for extension of that 14 days for another 14 days without explanation to anybody”, he said.
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The Senior Advocate clarified that the ICPC is only required to explain to the Court and not to the general public.
“The explanation is to the court, not to the public. It is to the court, it’s not the public that will grant the application, it’s the court that will grant the application, so the explanation you want to offer must be offered to the court.”
He pointed out that, subject to constitutional restrictions, law enforcement may hold a suspect on probable suspicion of a crime; if the detention is illegal, the suspect is entitled to legal recourse.
“You see, our laws have given power to the law enforcement agencies to investigate suspicion of crime, suspicion of commission of crime. So to that extent, where there is a suspicion of commission of crime, they have the power to invite and to arrest and to detain. But that detention, by the provision of the Constitution that I’ve cited, Section 35, is to last for 24 hours where the court is in the province of the court, and where it is not, it’s 48 hours.
“So this is the constitutional right of the law enforcement agency and equally the corresponding right of the suspect to apply to court for bail. However, where there is need to investigate, there’s a suspicion, reasonable suspicion of crime, then the law enforcement agency will go to court for another court order to remand that person in prison pending investigation.
“And that is why the remedy is there for any suspect who has been arrested wrongly or detained wrongly to approach the court of law for redress”, he stated.
Regarding allegations of selective justice, the SAN stated that everyone is subject to the law and that nobody is above it.
“As far as I’m concerned, my position is this: the law is a leveller, and nobody is above the law. You know, justice should be done to everybody irrespective of class, status, or whatever you belong to. And again, he who lives in a glass house must not throw stones.”
He added, “To me, yes, you can employ the antics of politics to discredit what the law enforcement agencies are doing, but as far as I’m concerned, the fact that A was not caught and B is caught doesn’t create a dichotomy. The law is the law. If you offend, if you break the law, then you face the law.”
