The Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, has dismissed claims that the government is dragging its feet in prosecuting offenders under the Operation Recover All Loots (ORAL) corruption drive.
Critics have accused the government of making noise about the initiative without following through with timely prosecutions, despite public expectations of recovering stolen state funds.
But speaking at the Government Accountability Series on Monday, July 28, Dr. Ayine insisted that prosecutions under ORAL are progressing at what he described as “a very supersonic speed.”
“We are going at a very supersonic speed as far as ORAL is concerned,” he said. “Now also remember that conviction depends on the judge and the court. If I send the matter to court, I cannot be the one determining when the person is convicted.”
He noted that he can only be faulted if he fails to take the prosecution process seriously.
“If I were laid back, allowing for long adjournments and not being serious with the cases and so on, then you can accuse me of delay,” he explained.
“However, if I’m doing everything possible to ensure that there’s speed and efficiency in the prosecution, how can you blame me for a delay in the execution of ORAL?” Dr. Ayine quizzed.
No comment yet, add your voice below!