President Bola Tinubu has urged the judiciary to review prosecution strategies and close procedural loopholes exploited by politically exposed persons and organised crime groups to delay or frustrate criminal trials.
The president also stressed that the fight against corruption cannot succeed without an independent, progressive and reform-minded judiciary.
Tinubu made the call on Tuesday in Abuja while addressing the eighth annual capacity-building workshop for judges and justices organised by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the National Judicial Institute (NJI).
Represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, the president urged judicial officers to review existing laws and precedents to address emerging financial crimes and prevent offenders from exploiting technicalities to escape justice.
“We must no longer permit legal pyrotechnics and procedural pedantry to shelter criminality,” he said, adding that the courts must uphold the spirit, and not merely the letter, of the law.
Tinubu warned that corruption affects all arms of government and should not be treated as the responsibility of the executive alone.
He said the increasing use of blockchain technology and artificial intelligence in financial crimes required law enforcement agencies and the judiciary to continuously strengthen their capacity to investigate and prosecute offenders.
The president commended the EFCC for its efforts in tackling cryptocurrency-related fraud and recovering digital assets.
He disclosed that in 2025, the commission secured the forfeiture of 22,417 dollars and 91 cents worth of Bitcoin, more than one million USDT in digital assets, and 5.6 million dollars linked to the CBEX scheme.
He also said 192 foreign nationals arrested for cyber-terrorism and cryptocurrency fraud were successfully prosecuted and subsequently deported.
Tinubu pledged the federal government’s support for ongoing judicial reforms, saying the justice system must be adequately equipped to respond to the challenges of crime in the digital age.
Earlier, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, said technological advances had changed how digital evidence was obtained and recorded, making effective case management and continuous judicial training increasingly important.
She said sustained capacity-building programmes were helping to improve judicial officers’ conduct, case management and delivery of justice.
The chairman of the Senate Committee on Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes, Senator Emmanuel Udende, pledged the National Assembly’s support for stronger anti-corruption legislation.
Similarly, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, represented by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Rotimi Oyedepo, called for stronger cooperation among the executive, legislature, judiciary and law enforcement agencies.
The EFCC chairman, Ola Olukoyede, described the workshop as a national imperative, warning that technological innovation was advancing faster than the legal instruments available to prosecute financial crimes.
The workshop was held under the theme, “Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Financial Crimes in a Digital Age.”
