Everyone will be questioned over missing cocaine, including Chief Registrar: PM
Chief Registrar Tomasi Bainivalu declines comment, saying the Police investigation is still pending.
Thursday 01 October 2026 | 09:30
Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka (left) and Chief Registrar Tomasi Bainivalu.
Photos: Ronald Kumar
Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka says Chief Registrar Tomasi Bainivalu could also be questioned in investigations into the missing cocaine worth more than $50 million from the Suva court exhibit room.
The chief registrar is responsible for the overall administration and operation of the courts.
It was put to the Prime Minister during his press conference yesterday that the missing cocaine reflected a broken judicial system, with the chief registrar failing to clear the air on the issue.
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“It doesn’t mean that he will not be questioned. Everybody will be questioned. Who is responsible for this block? And who is responsible for the key? Who is responsible for keeping all those closed-circuit systems working,” Mr Rabuka said.
Mr Bainivalu has declined to directly respond to questions on the matter.
Instead, when approached yesterday, he said: “We will remain silent while police investigation is still pending.”
The missing cocaine, with a total value of more than $50 million, belonged to Australian John Nicholic and Canadian Joshua Aziz Rahmanas, who were sentenced to prison in 2019 and 2021 respectively.
Mr Bainivalu reported Nicholic’s missing cocaine to Police in March this year, which later led to the discovery of the missing $31 million cocaine bars belonging to Rahmanas in September.
“No institution is perfect. And if there are rogue elements in those institutions, they must be found out. They must be investigated,” Mr Rabuka said.
It was put to the Prime Minister that the broken surveillance system in the court exhibit room raises serious questions about the use of taxpayers’ money to maintain the courts’ security system.
“The governments try and agents of the government try. We try our best,” Mr Rabuka said.
“We never will be able to satisfy everybody all the time. We may be able to satisfy some people all the time, other people sometimes, but not everybody all the time.”
Chief Justice Salesi Temo referred all media questions to the chief registrar.
