With the next general elections in 2023, the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government is dedicated to putting an end to the anti-democracy and anti-culture actions, according to the Attorney General of the Federation AGF and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami SAN.
Malami, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), made a suggestion that the accomplishment would be made possible by administering legally acceptable ways to the criminals in order to act as a deterrent to others.
The theme of the 2022 International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, which was “Media, Civil Society, and Violence-Free Election in Nigeria,” was discussed by the AGF on Tuesday in Abuja.
The two-day event will draw more than 500 media professionals from the nation’s diverse media organisations.
The Justice Minister expressed his delight at the proactive and preventive measures taken by the Federal and several State Governments to stem the flow of anti-democratic culture and activity.
He reiterated his appeal to individuals currently engaged in electioneering to recognise the importance of abiding by the Electoral Law’s rules when engaging in political activity.
Malami urged them to work together to ensure that all campaign statements are kind and in line with international best practises in order to help ensure a peaceful election process.
“As the 2023 election campaign gathered momentum, we chose the theme of this celebration to revolve around “Media, Civil Society and Violence-free Election in Nigeria.”
“This proactive engagement has the objective of enlightenment to shun electoral offences with the sole intention of making healthier processes at all levels of electioneering campaigns.
“It is important to note that recent developments in Nigeria proved that the Federal Government has laudable initiatives to end impunity for crimes against Nigerian citizens.
“Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) report says Nigeria was the only country to get off the index of nations with impunity for crimes against journalists in 2020.
“The 2020 global index for impunity for crimes against journalists by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), released on Wednesday 28th day of November 2020, indicated that Nigeria is the only country that came off the index from 2019.
“This achievement is not unconnected with deliberate and committed efforts of the President Muhammadu Buhari led Federal Government through the implementation of many reforms in the Nigerian justice sector to include increased access to justice, speedy justice dispensation, decongestion of Nigeria’s correctional centres and judicious implementation of the Criminal Justice Act.
“Let me express our appreciation to our partners; the Management Conflict in Nigeria (MCN) programme of the European Union supervised by the British Council and the Kano State Government under the able leadership of Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje for their support to this programme”.
By carefully choosing famous scholars, practitioners, and specialists in different connected sectors, the AGF advised the participants to make the most of what they stand to gain. He also added that his office would expect proposals from the policy discussion to be used.
