Abstract
Nigeria understandably opted to incorporate plea bargain into its criminal justice administration via Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 with a view of saving time and resources associated with the long and hectic criminal trial in the country. However the introduction and application of the concept is not without challenges. The paper using doctrinal research methodology examined the procedure for the application of plea bargain on corruption matters under the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 and found that, the Act provides insufficient procedural guidelines and they will not assist the court in the application of the concept, particularly when it comes to sentencing, and also the timing for the parties to enter into plea bargain agreement under the new Act is provided in restrictive manner. The paper recommended that ACJA, 2015 be amended by expanding on the procedural guidelines and any provision that would defect the objective of speeding trial or eliminate corruption in the process of the application of plea bargain.
Authors: Mohammed Bashir Tanko
