TO ensure prompt disposal of debt recovery cases nstituted by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), the Chief Justice of the Federal High Court (FHC), Judge Ibrahim Auta, last week, issued a set of guidelines to aid the court’s judges in this regard.
The guidelines contained in a document named: AMCON practice directions 2013, seek as a fundamental objective, to enable the court deal with AMCON cases “quickly and efficiently.”
One of the innovative provisions of the practice directions is what it calls – AMCON track judge (a judge designated by the Chief Judge to hear AMCON claims/cases exclusively for a specified or indefinite period). There could be more than one of such judges in a division of the court.
Under the 17-part practice directions, scheduled to take effect from March 1, AMCON track judges are required to give effect to its fundamental objective at every stage of an AMCON claim (case).
The judges are also to be guided by the need to ensure swift disposal of such cases when exercising any power under the AMCON Act, FHC Civil Procedure Rules, the practice directions and any other rule and direction.
The directions enjoin AMCON track judges to, in furthering the fundamental objective, engage in “active cases management”. As provided in Part Two of the directions, cases management requires judges to among others, encourage parties to cooperate with each other in the conduct of the proceedings, and identify the issues at an early stage.
Judges are also required to decide promptly, which issues need full investigation and trial, and accordingly dispose of summarily, the other issues. They are to decide the order in which issues are to be resolved; help parties to settle the whole or part of a case and deal with as many aspects of a case as possible, on the same occasion even when not scheduled.
Justice Auta inaugurated the practice directions on February 11 in Lagos, at the opening session of the Second Federal High Court Judges Forum, facilitated by AMCON. The forum afforded the judges the opportunity to closely scrutinise the new practice directions, the workings of the AMCON Act, among others.
The Chief Judge advised the participating judges to apply the practices directions. He noted that although the document may be imperfect, its application will afford the users opportunity of realisation where amendment would be required in future.
Auta gave tips to the judges on how ex-parte applications by AMCON should be handled. He said the plan was on to ensure that AMCON cases were entertained by judges in other jurisdictions outside Abuja and Lagos, where such cases are concentrated.
He urged the judges to treat AMCON cases with dispatch. He said priority should be given to the cases filed by AMCON as being done to cases relating to fundamental rights, money laundering, rape and kidnapping, “because they affect the life blood of the nation.”
Auta said the fact that AMCON was bankrolling the forum did not mean that “we (the judges) should close our eyes to all that AMCON files.”
AMCON’s Managing Director, Mustafa Chike-Obi told the gathering that the forum was meant to help strengthen the operations of the court and make the judges’ work, as it relates to AMCON cases, easier. Chike-Obi said he hoped that the forum would become an annual event where legal issues would be discussed.
He later spoke with journalists and stressed that the forum was not intended to seek special favour from the judges. He said it was meant to bring to their knowledge, issues that may not be clear about the workings of AMCON.
“The workshop is a forum for FHC judges to discuss what they have learnt or seen about AMCON cases that have been disposed off. And for all of us to advance our knowledge of the AMCON Act, so as to ensure that justice remains to be served in cases involving AMCON.
“We hope to expand this kind of fora to other areas of interest in the judiciary, so that we will have a continuous forum, where people could air their views and discuss how we can better the judiciary and Nigeria,” Chike-Obi said.
He denied the possibility of such a workshop, organised by a potential party in cases before the court, influencing the minds of the judges reaching decisions. “Judges cannot be influenced by just a one-day seminar. I think the idea is just for the judges to discuss their experiences with each other and discuss areas, which affect their minds or areas that are not so clear.
“So, generally speaking, I do not think this kind of a one-day seminar can affect judges to be biased against any opponent of AMCON. In any case, that is also not the intention of AMCON for the workshop,” Chike-Obi said.
Former President, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) said the workshop was organised to acquaint the judges with the workings of AMCON, being an agency of government set up to specifically recover about N5 trillion bad debt.
Some of the participating judges include Justices Okechukwu Okeke, James Tsoho, Mojisola Olatoregun-Ishola, Charles Archibong, Benedicta Molokwu, Ahmed Ramat Mohammed, Abimbola Ogie, Mohammed Sanni, Okon Efreti Abang, Ibrahim Buba, Mohammed Idris and Chukwujekwu Aneke.
