Sulaiman Amida, the Chief Registrar of the Federal High Court (FHC), has addressed claims that the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) paid for some judges’ training in London.
In a statement released on Sunday, Amida referred to the accusation as nasty and incorrect.
According to report, Nigerian attorneys criticised the AMCON for reportedly funding the training of some judges of the Federal High Court in the United Kingdom.
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The attorneys claim that a government organisation allegedly flew the judicial officers abroad for training.
The chief executive officer of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Modibbo Tukur, and the managing director of AMCON, Ahmed Kuru, were allegedly actively involved in the annual training for judges in London.
Despite the fact that practically all of the resource people were from Nigeria, sources told SaharaReporters that AMCON flew the judges to London for the training at exorbitant cost.
A source told the platform that “Hon. Justice John T. Tsoho, the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice A.O. Faji of the Federal High Court, and other Federal High Court Judges from Nigeria are currently in London for the training, which was declared open on Monday, July 31 by the High Commissioner for Nigeria in the UK, Sarafa Tunji Isola.”
However, in its reaction, the FHC said, “The malicious portrayal of AMCON as funding judges’ trip to London for training at a huge expense was crass misinformation. The report is entirely false and a figment of the reporter’s imagination. It is designed to malign the Federal High Court.”
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The National Judicial Council is in charge of providing financing for judges’ overseas training, according to the FHC registrar.
Amida acknowledged that there was a training in London, but he pointed out that it had been fully organised by the Federal High Court’s administration and funded by the National Judicial Council.
He called the training’s participation by AMCON and NFIU “purely participatory.”
Amida explained that “The relevant budgetary sub-heads are 0103 International Travels and Training; 0104 International Travels: Others (Medical) and 0502 International Training (course fee).
“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 and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit are vital statutory stakeholders regarding the court’s jurisdiction.
“Their involvement in the training was purely participatory, as experts in their specialised fields.”
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Amida said it was the tradition of the Federal High Court to send its judges on annual foreign training “to keep them abreast of international best practices obtainable.”
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