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The presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Prince Adewole Adebayo, has promised to overhaul the criminal justice system in Nigeria with a view to protecing the innocent but punishing the culpable if elected president.
Adebayo made this declaration in Lagos at an annual lecture organised by a foremost human rights body in Nigeria, the Committee for The Defence of Human (CDHR) titled “Understanding Human Rights Beyond Emotions and Personal Interests”.
In his goodwill message delivered on his behalf by his Campaign’s Chief Media and Communications Adviser, Comrade Mark Adebayo, Prince Adebayo lamented that “those who administer Nigeria’s criminal justice system are often adjudged, rightly or wrongly, by the society.”
According to his, “this diminishes trust in the system and consequently creates a dangerous culture of self-help because the current system helps rich criminals and corrupt public officials to escape justice while the innocent or a petty criminal who stole N1000 bread is sentenced to 10 years in jail. The one who steals trillions from the treasury is taken to and fro court in luxury jeeps.
“Our administration will overhaul Nigeria’s criminal system in a way that ensures equal delivery of justice, punishes criminals and protect the innocent and the poor. We cannot have a criminal justice system run by criminals.”
He called on the civil society to rise up in their defence of the civil populace, adding “We in this community of activists will bear the worst blame of historic dimensions if we fail to stop the recycling of retrogressive leadership in this country.
“Our most noble responsibility as activists in the current dispensation on the African continent, particularly in Nigeria, is to lead a process that will ensure that the people have the freedom to choose who leads them without the tragic manifestation of “authority stealing.”
The SDP presidential candidate expressed concern over the number of out-of-school children which he put at approximately 18.3 million.
“Nigeria has approximately 18.3 million out-of-school children, I’m yet to see a direct or significant public action intervention by Nigeria’s activists on that.
On Nigeria’s electoral system, he said, “Our electoral processes are being compromised by clearly unconstitutional legislations”, blaming the civil society organisations for their ephemeral interventions.
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