Two Senior Advocates of Nigeria, Mr. Olisa Agbakoba and John Baiyeshea, on Friday in Ilorin, Kwara State warned against misapplication of plea bargain in Nigeria.

Their positions were in responses to the Criminal Justice Administration Bill, 2013 which had passed second reading in the House of Representatives and was set for public hearing.

The bill is being sponsored by the Chairman, House Committee on Justice, Dr. Ali Ahmad.

Agbokoba said plea bargain was a good concept but noted that it had been misapplied in Nigeria, adding that the bill should set conditions for its application to avoid abuse.

Baiyeshea stated that plea bargain might be useful when properly applied in a civilised and credible society or system. He, however, warned that it might be misapplied.

"In the Nigerian context, every policy is subject to abuse and corruption. I am not a pessimist but I perceive that the policy may now be used by fraudsters, criminals and big time crooks to short-change the system, run down the society and undermine our criminal justice process," Baiyeshea said.

Ahmad, who represents Ilorin East and South Federal Constituency, said one fundamental aspect of the bill was the provision for plea bargain.

He stated that plea bargain might then become part of Nigeria's law unless there were strong arguments against it.

He urged Nigerians to contribute to the process of the bill to ensure that the right thing was done, adding that it was an opportunity for Nigerians to make useful inputs into the bill.

"We want to hear how Nigerians view the issues. People should not argue against it before reading the checks and balances in the bill. Only after then can we be talking of the same thing. Plea bargain constitutes about 90 per cent of all criminal trials in the USA," Ahmad said.

He stated that other topical aspects of the bill include: alternatives to prison sentence or community service; central criminal record registry; arrest protocol; time frame for issuing Directorate of Public Prosecutor advice to the Police and case management measures for reducing pre-trial detention.