Chief Judge of Oyo State, Justice Munta Abimbola, on Monday, inaugurated the Oyo State secretariat of the Administration of Criminal Justice Monitoring Committee (ACJMC) as part of effort to ensure the smooth and effective implementation of the provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act in the state.

Justice Abimbola also took delivery of support equipment from the secretary of the ACJL office at the Federal Ministry of Justice, Abuja with support from the MacArthur Foundation to aid the efforts of the state judiciary in making ACJL a standard.

Speaking during the inauguration of the secretariat which took place as part of activities lined up for the ACJMC workshop in Oyo State with the theme; Effective implementation of the provisions of ACJA/ACJL in Nigeria at the mini-conference hall of the Oyo State Judiciary at the High Court complex, Ring-Road, Justice Abimbola said that the law will ensure that Oyo state has a very functional justice system.

According to him, with the inauguration of the secretariat, the dissemination of information will be easier among participating agencies and synergy will be smooth, adding that there will be speedy dispensation of justice as the committee will monitor and see to the effective use of the law.

Justice Abimbola said with the Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL), there will be reduction of congestion at correctional centres because it provides that awaiting trail inmates should not be taken to custodial centres, adding that the law ensures maximum cooperation among stakeholders like police, prison, Ministry of Justice, DSS and other agencies.

He stated that the workshop is an avenue to converge and discuss how effective criminal justice should be done, noting that he is glad that with the establishment of the secretariat, collation of analysis of information will be easy especially with the establishment of a portal of information at the federal to share information to all states of the federation.

Justice Abimbola emphasised that the inauguration of the secretariat is not on the whims of anybody but on the provisions of Section 459 ((2) of the law which dictates the establishment of a secretariat, adding that the state is moving fast in the implementation of the law.

The ACJL secretary from the Federal Ministry of Justice, Mallam Dawodu Suleman said the donation of support equipment to Oyo ACJMC secretariat is to add value to the already established efforts of Justice Abimbola, adding that the Oyo judiciary is performing and the federal office is just leveraging on what had been done as they could not have supported what does not exist.

He stated that “this is to validate what they are doing at the state level, identify how far they have gone and their challenges as well as success stories in order to strengthen the implementation of the law in the state and support them with the experience that we have had at the federal level.’

Speaking on the workshop, Mallam Suleman said that it is a sharing of information and knowledge platform, adding that “that is what this programme is about. What Oyo State has done in terms of noncustodial sentencing is commendable, the synergy between stakeholders and agencies is impressive because synergy is the spirit of the law itself, that is what the ACJL is meant to foster; synergy among all organs in the justice system

“We are interested in seeing how it is put into practice at the state level; this is the reason for coming down, to share knowledge and assess what had been done,” he stated.

The secretary to Oyo ACJMC, Alhaji Abudullateef Adebimpe, said the inauguration of the secretariat will only make the work seamless and more effective.

In their goodwill message, CSP Olufunke Fawole representing the police and officers from the Directorate of Public Prosecution in the state, the correctional centres and other stakeholders lauded the law as one that makes them handle cases effectively and appropriately without wasting time, commending the review that has helped to remove some lacunas.