The event which held at Michael Okpara auditorium complex was organised by the Justice Reform Team Network and the National Justice Stakeholders. The conference is a coalition of various actors in the justice reform industry coming to share ideas and skills on how to better the criminal justice administration system in Nigeria. It was attended by various representatives of each state of the federation Justice Reform Team of which Abia State was privileged to be the host of the event.

In attendance were: The Executive Governor of Abia State represented by His Deputy, Rt. Hon. Udo Okochukwu, Dayo Apata – Solicitor General of the Federation (SGF), Prof. Mohammed Tabiu – Co-Chair Federal Justice Sector Reform Coordinating Committee, Hon. Justice Onuoha Ogwe – The Chief Judge, Abia State Judiciary & Chairman Abia State Administration of Criminal Justice Monitoring Committee (ACJMC), Mr. Uche Ihediwa – Attorney General & Commissioner of Justice, Abia State, Mr. Juliu Ezugwu – Controller Nigeria Prisons, Abia State Command, Mr. Felix Ota-Okojie – Secretary Federal Justice Sector Reform Coordinating Committee (FJSRCC), Uhju Agomoh PhD – Executive Director/Founder, Prisoners’ Rehabilitation and Welfare Action (PRAWA) and Convener, Nigerian Civil Society and various state judicial representatives and magistrates.

In his opening speech the Abia State Chief Judge said that the Abia State Administration of Criminal Justice Monitoring Committee (ACJMC) is very much on ground and has carried out a number of activities aimed at repositioning the justice sector for effective and efficient hjustice delivery in our society in pursuit of it’s mandate under the law establishing it. He further stated that there has been workshops and seminars for relevant agencies in the sector dealing with administration of justice in the state. The committee (ACJMC) has also partnered with PRAWA (Prisioners Rehabilitation and Welfare Action) on projects such as All Magistrates’ Conference on the Administration of Criminal Justice Law. He said Abia State is the first state judiciary in Nigeria to conduct virtual training on non-custodial sentence/community service, internal training online for Registrars and Virtual Training for chairmaen of customary courts in the state.

Speaking about the conference and its advantage to Abia State, The Attorney General/Commissioner for Justice Mr. Uche Ihediwa said this special edition allows for Abia State to showcase firsthand to the other teams an important intervention in Abia Justice Reforms. He further stated that there has been recent modifications in the judicial system in Abia State.

Currently Abia State is doing a lot to make sure that court trials are not delayed especially with the launching of the
E-Court/Remote Court Hearing Project in Abia State Judiciary. He said that Abia State for the past 4 years has been
operating the criminal justice law.