Nigerian Judges’ Training In London Not Funded By AMCON, Federal High Court Denies Reports

The Federal High Court Headquarters, Abuja, on Sunday denied a media report titled “Controversy Surrounds Flying of Judges to London for training by Nigeria’s Asset Recovery Agency, AMCON.”

The report claimed that judges, who are currently observing their vacation, were allegedly funded by Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria to attend a training in London, United Kingdom.

It alleged that the London trip was allegedly facilitated by AMCON and Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, to induce the judges and prevent them from discharging their duties.

But in a rebuttal from the Chief Registrar, Sulaiman Amida Hassan, made available to THE WHISTLER, the court described the report as malicious and borne out of falsehood.

“The malicious portrayal of AMCON as funding the Judges’ trip to London for training at a huge expense was nothing short of CRASS MISINFORMATION.

” The report is entirely FALSE, and a figment of the imagination of the reporter. It is designed to malign the image of the Federal High Court,” he stated.

He also explained that the training in question was solely organised and paid for by the Federal High Court of Nigeria, funded by the Federal Government through the National Judicial Council.

He added, ” The relevant Budgetary Sub-Heads utilized are as follows:

*0103 International Travels and Training

• 0104 International Travels: Others (Medical)

*0502 International Training (Course Fee).”

The Registrar also confirmed that AMCON and NFIU attended the training on a participatory level.

The statement further reads, “While acknowledging the presence of the Federal High Court Judges for training in London, it is pertinent to state that both the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, (AMCON) and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, (NFIU) are vital statutory stakeholders with regard to the jurisdiction of the Court.

“Their involvement in the training is purely participatory, as experts in their specialised fields.

“Having regard to the global feature in the Court’s jurisdiction, It has been the tradition to organize foreign trainings for its Judges on a yearly basis.

“This is one of such trainings which are deliberately scheduled during the period of the long vacation in order to minimize disruption of Court sittings.

“These workshops are considered as integral components of judicial duties.

“The Court is committed to empowering its Judges with the relevant tools to develop their judicial competence.

“The objective is to keep them abreast of international best practices obtainable, hence the need to hold the training outside the shores of Nigeria.

“Had Sahara Reporters made the slightest effort to verify such information, they would have known better than to go public with such misdirection.

“The Court operates an open-door policy and information can easily be verified through the appropriate channels.

“The Federal High Court considers the reportage as misguided and mischievous. It is apparent from the tone of the publication that Sahara Reporters had a predetermined intention to mislead the public by maligning the Court and inciting disaffection against it.

“This is highly unacceptable. As such, Sahara Reporters is strongly advised to immediately retract the publication and refrain from further publishing such unprofessional and false reports about the activities of the Court and its Honourable Judges.”