By Section 271, subsection (1)(a) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, a prosecutor may receive and consider a plea bargain from a defendant charged with an offence either directly from that defendant or on his behalf. And by subsection 3, where a prosecutor is of the view that the offer or acceptance of a plea bargain is in the interest of justice, the public interest, public policy and the need to prevent abuse of legal process, he may offer or accept the plea bargain. Suffice to say, plea bargain is an agreement between a defendant and the prosecution whereby the defendant pleads guilty to one or more of the offences which he is charged (usually lesser offence), while the prosecution agrees in turn to drop one or more of the other offences with which the defendant is charged; or alternatively the defendant may plead guilty to one or more offences in return for the prosecution conceding to a milder penalty. Plea bargain is a concept which has caused much controversies in recent years. That is, while some persons are in favor of the introduction of plea bargain in Nigeria, majority are against its introduction for various reasons. Hence, this article seeks to examine the concept of plea bargain and its place in the liquidation of debt. It shall consider whether plea bargain can be utilized in debt recovery under the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation Act, 2004, and if it can be, the extent to which it can be utilized. Finally, it shall also consider how enforceable such provision will be.
The concept of plea bargain is replete with definitions from various writers, judicial decisions and even statutory provision. According to Nchi,1 plea bargaining is an informal arrangement in which the accused person agrees to plead guilty to one or some charges in return for the prosecution agreeing to drop other charges or a summary trial. Kupolati2 also defined plea bargaining as the process whereby the accused and the prosecutor in a criminal case workout mutually satisfactory disposition of the case subject to court approval. Similarly, the Black Laws Dictionary defines plea bargain as “a negotiated agreement between a Prosecutor and a criminal Defendant where the Defendant pleads guilty to a lesser offense or to one of multiple charges in exchange for some concession by the Prosecutor usually, more lenient sentence or a dismissal of the other charges
And by Section 494 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, plea bargain is defined as the “process in criminal proceedings whereby the Defendant and the Prosecution work out a mutually acceptable disposition of the case; including the plea of the Defendant to a lesser offence than that charged in the complaint or information and in conformity with other conditions imposed by the prosecution, in return for a lighter sentence than that for the higher charge subject to the Court’s approval.”