Dr. Reuben Abati, a columnist, and broadcast journalist with Arise News, has made multiple claims regarding the bills signed into law by former Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan.
Abati, who served as Jonathan’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity between 2011 and 2015, made these claims during The Morning Show aired on Arise News on Thursday, July 6, 2023.
Speaking about the continued detention of the suspended governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, and the suspended chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, by the Department of State Service (DSS), Abati said;
“ACJA was the last piece of legislation that President Jonathan signed into law on May 29, 2015, and it’s been there but the rules that I have just defined are there.”
Claim I: The former president of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan signed the Administration of Criminal Justice Bill into law on May 29, 2015.
Verification
The CDD War Room checked the veracity of the claim and here is what we found.
A report by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) shows that Goodluck Jonathan signed the Administration of Criminal Justice Bill into law on Wednesday, May 13, 2015.
Reuben Abati, who was the former president’s special adviser on media and publicity at the time, reportedly confirmed to journalists that Jonathan signed the bill the same day he received the document from the National Assembly.
The development was reported by other credible media outlets as can be seen here and here.
Verdict: Inaccurate
The claim by Reuben Abati that Jonathan signed the Administration of Criminal Justice Bill into law on May 29, 2015, is false. Multiple credible media reports revealed that the bill was signed way earlier than that.
Claim II: The Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) was the last piece of legislation signed by Jonathan
Verification
To verify this claim, the CDD War Room checked the pieces of legislation signed by Jonathan during his last days in office as Nigeria’s president.
We found that Jonathan signed more bills into law after the enactment of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) in May 2015.
The Guardian Newspaper reported on May 26, 2015, that Jonathan signed into law the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act and the Immigration Act 2015. This was also reported by Dailypost.
Channels Television reported that Jonathan signed the Tobacco Control Bill and five others into law on Wednesday, May 27, 2015.
Other legislatures signed by the president include the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency Act 2015; Equipment and Leasing Bill 2015; AMCON (Amendment) Bill 2015; Standards Organisation of Nigeria Bill 2015 and the National Sugar Development (Amendment) Bill 2015.
Verdict: Inaccurate
The claim by Abati that ACJA was the last piece of legislation that Jonathan signed into law, is inaccurate. Multiple credible reports show that more bills were signed after the enactment of ACJA in May 2015.