18082019 -Anxiety over " Next Level" Ministers

PAGE 8— SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 18, 2019
JUSTICE
Give us us a
apolitical, true
democrat true
democrat
AGF, SANs,
others AGF, SANs, tell
others Buhari tell
Buhari
“We also need someone who
understands what is required for
successful prosecution of cases, and not
one whose job will be to find loopholes
in our laws or contrive one to explain
executive mistakes and outright
violation of the laws of the land. We
need a forthright and courageous
Attorney General and Minister of
Justice”.
From the Civil Society group, Mr.
Ariyo-Dare Atoye, who is the Convener,
Coalition in Defence of Nigerian
Democracy and Constitution, said: “We
expect an AGF who is very thorough
and detailed in the understanding of
our laws, verse in judicial knowledge
and one with a genuine track record in
human rights engagement and who can
guide government to respect
fundamental human rights and the
decisions of our courts.
“The AGF must never hide under
public interest and national security to
undermine court pronouncements and
decisions or aid government to oppress
critics and the opposition”.
Convener of Coalition of Civil Society
Groups under the aegis of Concerned
Nigerians, Mr. Deji Adeyanju, on his
part, said: “I believe that someone who
can be made the Minister of Justice
should be one that believes in the rule of
law.
“Not someone who will justify and
give reasons why court judgements and
valid orders should be disobeyed.
“It should be someone who places the
interest of the country above the interest
of the political class or ruling party.
This is why, ordinarily, the AGF should
not be political at all. But
unfortunately, we have an ugly situation
in Nigeria”.
By Ikechukwu Nnochiri
& Henry Ojelu
As President Muhammadu
Buhari gets set to inaugurate his
cabinet and assign portfolios to
Ministers, stakeholders speak on what
should inform the choice of the Attorney
General of the Federation and Minister
of Justice.
According to Section 150 of the 1999
Constitution, as amended, “There shall
be an Attorney General of the
Federation who shall be the Chief Law
Officer of the Federation and a
Minister of the Government of the
Federation”.
The Constitution specifies that a
person shall not be qualified to hold or
perform the functions of the Office of
the AGF unless he is qualified to
practice as a legal practitioner in
Nigeria and has been so qualified for
not less than ten years.
Highlighting his
expectations for the next
AGF, a Senior Advocate of
Nigeria (SAN) and
constitutional lawyer,
Yunus Usman, said
whoever is assigned the
Justice Ministry must be
as clean and above board
as Julius Caesar’s wife.
He said: “The person
must have proven
incorruptible qualities
and must be able to give
the Federal Government
wonderful legal advice at
all times.
“Second, when he is in
doubt, he must consult
experienced external
lawyers before giving
advice to government”.
Besides, the senior
lawyer, who has handled
many sensitive cases in
court, said it was
imperative for an AGF to
personally conduct high-profile cases
involving the Federal Government.
“Whoever is appointed as the AGF
should be handling serious government
cases himself. He must also ensure that
government lawyers in the Ministry of
Justice are not just there to take salaries
but must be forced to go to court so as
To combine the
two offices, the
occupier must
be an
established
legal
practitioner with
sound pedigree
preferably from
academia with
no party
affiliation
to reduce the cost of litigation and
amount of money spent to pay external
lawyers. That is why they were
employed as state counsel.
“Any AGF that imbibes these qualities
will succeed but anyone one who fails to
do so is bound to fail”.
Similarly, human rights lawyer, Dr.
Kayode Ajulo, said the occupant of the
AGF’s seat must have sound knowledge
of the law.
“Whoever is assigned the portfolio
must be a senior lawyer who has firm
grip of the law. To me, I think the
former AGF, Abubakar Malami, SAN,
did not perform badly”.
Another SAN, Dayo Akinlaja, said:
“To my mind, professionalism is crucial
for one to serve as a desirable Chief
Law Officer. The AGF must be someone
that can comfortably rise above the
murky waters of politics and ensure that
the rule of law flourishes.
“The country at this point essentially
needs an AGF that will make going to
court worthwhile by
looking for ingenious
ways to expedite the
course of litigation from
the trial court to the
apex court. Much of the
injustice that we witness
around is linked to the
fact that it takes
inordinate time to round
off litigation in the
courts.
“Once it is known that
people can get justice in
court over a reasonable
period of time, it is
almost certain that some
of the injustice around
would be promptly
curbed by deterrence. It
takes a professional
person whose
preoccupation is not
politics and politicking
to bring this about.
“Of course politics is
inexorable in the
discharge of whatever political duties;
nonetheless, it should not have the
better of professionalism. There is a
need to rebuild confidence in our
judicial system. We need an AGF who
will work hand in hand with the
judiciary and the NBA to achieve this.
“So we need a judiciary and NBA
friendly personality for the office of the
AGF. Importantly too, we need an AGF
that will serve as a bridge builder
among the three arms of government
and the generality of the public.
“The singular way to do this is to be in
a position to foster a robust culture of
rule of law. It takes professionalism to
have this done as well. Of no less
importance is the fact that we need the
AGF to dictate the pace of legal
practice in the public area of the law of
the land.
“Professionalism comes to the fore in
this regard as well. For all these, the
AGF must be a team player, well
focused professionally and, above all,
given to probity and must be God
fearing”.
To Chino Obiagwu, SAN, who is the
Director of Legal Defence and Assistant
Project, LEDAP: “The main minus of
this regime is disobedience to orders of
court. That is a major affront to the rule
of law.
“No modern society can develop
without the rule of law. So I expect the
incoming AGF to be committed to the
rule of law. He must not mis-advice
government that national security or
whatever security supersedes judicial
orders or the rule of law. That is a call
to anarchy.
“A new AGF must respect the
Constitution and citizens cannot be
detained arbitrarily without charge for
weeks and months and years. This is a
democracy and arbitrary detention is
unconstitutional. We want an AGF that
is truly a democrat”.
Said human rights lawyer, Mr.
Ugochukwu Ezekiel: “I believe we need
radical reforms in the administration of
Justice in Nigeria. We therefore need
someone who does not only have deep
understanding of the law but also one
who is independent- minded, fearless
and bold, someone who could look
straight at his principal’s eyes and
advise on radical but result oriented
reforms in our justice system in
Nigeria.
“I am not talking of criminal justice
system alone but reforms in civil rules
to ensure speedy dispensation of justice.
Such a person should be someone who
could convince his colleagues at the
state level to advise governors to adopt
uniform but well thought-out reforms in
the states.
Also speaking, a senior lecturer at the
Faculty of Law, Lagos State University,
LASU, Mr. Gbenga Ojo, urged Buhari
to assign the Justice Ministry to an
established legal practitioner with no
party affiliation.
Ojo said the President should take a
cue from the Lagos State where the
current Vice President, Professor Yemi
Osinbajo, was appointed the Attorney
General by the administration of
Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
He noted that Osinbajo’s background
as a professor of law was responsible
for his success as Attorney General of
the state.
His words: “Political appointment is
at the discretion of the President. That is
why there should be the office of
Attorney General of the Federation,
AGF, and that of the Minister of Justice.
To combine the two offices, the occupier
must be an established legal
practitioner with sound pedigree
preferably from academia with no party
affiliation. This is doubtful though. The
politicians would prefer a party man
who would dance to the tune of the
party. “I use the case of Professor
Osinbajo who was the Attorney General
in Lagos State. He did credibly well.
This can be replicated at the federal
level.
On his part, a member Ekiti State
Judicial Service Commission, Mr.
Kabir Akingbolu, said: “The office of
the AGF is a very sensitive and an
important one. It is key to the
functioning of government. Without an
active AGF, the government would
always run into trouble. Section 150 of
the Constitution specifically created the
office of the AGF by saying that there
shall be an AGF who shall be the Chief
Law Officer and Minister for Justice of
the federation. The constitution states
the qualifications of a person to be
appointed as AGF. It said the person
must be a lawyer duly called to the
Nigerian Bar and someone who has
been qualified to practice law for at
least 10 years before the time of his
appointment.
“However, for someone to be
appointed the Minister of Justice in
Nigeria, such a person ought to be
highly knowledgeable. He should
be a man who would advise
government on the inescapable
reason to obey the law. This is
because an AGF is like a class
monitor in the cabinet. He guides,
directs and advise the government
and all its agencies.’’