by 
“I want to say something about the delay in this appeal. Judgment was delivered in the High Court on 10th March 1994. The Respondents brief was filed in this Court on 17 October, 2003 and the appeal was heard on 23 November 2003. Accordingly the delay in hearing this appeal cannot be placed at the doorsteps of this Court. The Appellants are convicted and sentenced each to seven (7) years in prison. That was on 10th March, 1994. The prison term at worst should expire earlier than March 2001. This is 2003 and the appeal is being heard. If the appeal was heard earlier the Appellants could have been free persons latest in year 2001.
The justice delivery system in this country as it relates to delay is scandalous. It is very sad that for a period of seven (7) years, this appeal could not be disposed off. Delay in civil matters, though bad, is not as bad as delay in criminal matters. This is because in criminal matters, the liberty of the citizen is at stake. Unless a convict gets post-conviction bail, he will languish in prison until his appeal is finally disposed of. I do not think the Appellants in this appeal had the fortune of posting post-conviction bail. I do not see it in the record. The justice delivery in this matter is most wicked and cruel to the Appellants and I condemn it. If I had a stronger word than condemnation, I should have used it. One day of freedom means so much to the incarcerated prisoner. I say no more.”
-The Hon. Justice Niki Tobi, Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in Aiguoregbian v. State (2004), 3 NWLR (P1.860) at Page 367
