By Olu Benjamin
The Public and Private Development Centre (PPDC) a Non-Governmental Organization has been honoured for it’s contributions to advancing access to justice and promoting clinical legal education in Nasarawa state.
This is contained in a statement signed by Miss Munachi Okoro, Head of Communication and Knowledge Management, PPDC and made available to newsmen in Keffi local government area of Nasarawa state on Thursday.
According to Okoro, the commendation via an award of appreciation was at a seminar organized on Monday, October 4th, 2024 by the Nasarawa State University Keffi (NSUK) Law Clinic.
She said during the seminar titled “Assessing the potency of Alternative Dispute Resolution in the Nigerian Criminal justice system” PPDC’s role in advocating for legal reforms in the state and beyond was acknowledged.
“This development is reinforcing it’s position as a thought leader in the access to justice space in Nigeria,” she added.
Okoro said PPDC’s role in fostering collaboration with the United States (US) Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs in implementing the Reforms Pre-trial Detention in Nigeria (RPDN) Phase II project by empowering law clinics including indigent inmates of various custodial centres was also commended.
Okoro quoted Mr Rliwan Suleiman, NSUK Law Clinic Coordinator during the presentation of the award to PPDC as saying “We present this award of recognition to the PPDC in recognition of her immense contribution to the advancement of access to justice and promotion of clinical legal education in Nasarawa state and Nigeria”.
She said Mr Joshua Uba, Nasarawa state Program Manager of PPDC expressed appreciation for the recognition and pledged the organization’s commitment to driving instrumental legal reforms and enhanced access to justice in the state.
“The success of this event marks another step in PPDC’s broader mission to reform pretrial detention systems and advance justice reforms in Nigeria, ensuring that pretrial detainees are not forgotten and that viable alternatives to detention are explored and discussed at all levels,” she added.
Okoro then described PPDC as an NGO and social enterprise dedicated to fostering transparent and accountable governance while increasing citizens participation in governance processes.
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