By Ise-OluwaIge

The Attorney-General of the Federation, who is also the Chief Law Officer of the Federation, Chief Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, has just resumed office.

He is also a key member of the Federal Executive Council, FEC, being a Minister of Justice in the Government of the Federation.

He is the chief legal adviser to the government on sundry legal matters. The office of the AGF is the only ministerial position created by the constitution with its duties of office clearly spelt out.  No other ministerial office is so created by the constitution. Prince Fagbemi, during the week, took over as the 24th  AGF. In this piece, senior lawyers in the country spoke on what they expect of him in the next four years. 

Those who spoke include Chief Awa Kalu, SAN; Dr Olisa Agbakoba, SAN; Nigerian Bar Association, NBA President, Mr. Yakubu Maikyau, SAN; Prof. Sam Erugo, SAN; Dr Kayode Ajulo; Mr Adesoji Peters, and Muritala Abdul-Rasheed, SAN.

Excerpt:

I expect him to stabilize our democracy by his sound legal advice— Kalu, SAN

 

Chief Awa Kalu, SAN said: “Chief Fagbemi, SAN, I would say, is a good friend of mine and from a legal practitioner’s point of view, I would also say he is versatile and experienced. From a political point of view, I can also surmise that he has a balanced mind. 

“He is a pan-Nigerian and has handled cases for big businesses, big individuals, and has done pro bono things, including philanthropy, which clearly suggests that he is fit and proper to handle anything whatsoever, even if those things wear a parochial or political colouration. He has practiced all through the geo-political zones and therefore understands even our frivolities. I believe that he will fly the Nigerian flag very well.

“Having said that, I must say that I had the privilege of working as a Special Assistant to two different Attorneys-General of the Federation within the military interregnum. I also had the privilege and opportunity to serve as Attorney-General of my state. Since then, so many other Attorneys-General have come and gone. Without any shred of doubt, it is within the public domain that that office has been eroded by the emergence of different approaches for which reason I would recommend a more balanced approach to that ministerial position. 

“Without equivocation, the office of Attorney-General in any Government is the most important ministerial position and the opportunity for prevarication must therefore be minimised. To that extent, speaking personally, I prefer an Attorney-General who is of sound mind, whose intellect is extraordinary and whose perception of public interest is second to none. 

“The only answer to stability of democracy as well as stability of the Government in this diverse country is to have an Attorney-General who will serve as a barometer for measuring the vagaries of our multi-ethnicity. I think that will do us some good.”

I look forward to working together with new AGF —NBA President

Mr. Yakubu Maikyau, SAN, said: “Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, the Attorney-General of the Federation, is a round peg in a round hole. Many lawyers are excited about his appointment by the Tinubu government. I can also say that the AGF has the full support of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, and look forward to working together to move the justice sector forward.”

Change current snail’s speed of justice in Nigeria —Agbakoba, SAN

On his part, former NBA President, Dr Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, said: “We have a brilliant AGF in Fagbemi, SAN. He is a very good colleague and I have the highest confidence in his abilities. I am convinced this will be a simple task for him.

There are, however, pressing tasks to be carried out urgently by the new AGF. Major reforms of the criminal justice system with particular reference to the utter confusion in the duplicated work of our law enforcement agencies in particular EFCC and ICPC, is urgently needed. Also there is the need to unbundle EFCC and restrict them to investigation only while a new National Prosecution Agency ought to be established.

Another key reform would be a complete decentralized Police Force at local, state, and federal levels. Major revamp of our outdated laws is also urgently needed to follow the Rwanda example that modified 1,000 laws. Last but not the least, the AGF must work on speed of justice. It’s a crying shame it takes upward of 15 years to conclude cases from the High court to the Supreme Court.

Finally but not exhausted, is to create sector-specific dispute resolution agencies to free up the utterly cluttered dockets of the regular courts. The other very important task before the Attorney-General will be the unnecessary and wholly inefficient matter of over-centralisation of our superior courts. There is no better time than now to hack down the highly centralised court systems in Nigeria. The AGF is invited to consider major constitutional amendments to create a system of federal and state courts. State courts ought to have exclusive Jurisdiction over matters related to them. This is also the case for federal courts whose Jurisdiction must be limited to federal causes. This will free up the clutter at the Supreme Court and make it the Policy Court it ought to be in the first place.

He should ensure justice for  all without discrimination — Erugo, SAN

Prof. Sam Erugo, SAN, said: “Setting agenda for the new AGF is simple because of the nature of the office and the legal profession. His major duties are basically to ensure justice is served to all in accordance with the constitution/rule of law and accordingly to advise and defend the government in all legal matters. “Consequently, the AGF has the onerous duty of defending public interest as well. It is in this important duty with regard to public interest that most AGFs have failed over the years. The reason for the observable failure of some AGFs is the usual difficulty in reconciling the public interest with some conflicting state or government interest when they arise, and sometimes personal interests of the President and/or other cabals in government. 

“This is the reason for the persistent call for the separation of the office of the AGF and the Minister of Justice. But a competent AGF can manage the interests, so the solution lies in the competence of the AGF and his key advisers. By competence here, I am talking about good knowledge of law, requisite skills  and essentially, ethics. 

“The ethical or value dimension is key to doing the right thing, ensuring justice is done to all without discrimination, giving the right advice,  ensuring that due legal process is followed in all cases,  including crime and punishment, but refusing to persecute instead of prosecute, obeying court orders,  and generally resisting pressure, political or otherwise, to allow impunity. This is my agenda for the new AGF. 

“Luckily, the AGF is a respected, successful and seasoned senior lawyer known for his great competence and attention to detail.”

The new AGF must defend the rule of law —Dr Ajulo

Dr Kayode Ajulo, on his part, said: “Section 150 (1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria provides that 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. Subsection 2 of Section 150 provides that a person shall not be qualified to hold or perform the functions of the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation unless he is qualified to practise as a legal practitioner in Nigeria and has been so qualified for not less than 10 years. Prince Fagbemi, SAN is not just a lawyer who has practised for at least 10 years, he became a Senior Advocate of Nigeria 27 years ago. Specifically, he was called into the inner bar in 1996. I know what it takes to be a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. With that highest rank alone,  Fagbemi, SAN, is without doubt, eminently suitable to hold the position. Besides, Fagbemi, SAN, also stands out on the issue of the knowledge of the law and emotional intelligence. It is undisputable when it comes to that. And he relates well with both the old and the new generation of lawyers. 

My expectations of the new Attorney-General of the Federation are so clear. They are as set out first by the provisions of the constitution and every other enabling laws, ethics of the profession, the rules, Legal Practitioners Act and the rest. The AGF is the automatic leader of the bar. His position is  enamoured both in the bar and the bench. What matters most is that he is to ensure, defend and promote the rule of law as against the rules of the thumb, the whims and caprices of people. But when the Attorney-General of the Federation or the state decides to do otherwise, when he decides to turn himself into a politician, he runs into a big problem. And it must be so because politics is about policy and sentiments. But laws are not about sentiments. They are the set of codes that the people have given to themselves.  They must be followed. The functions of the AGF are to promote, uphold and to defend every tenets of law as it is without any fear or favour or without even thinking of political sentiment. That is part of what is expected of him.

Fagbemi must protect all sections of the country—Mr Peters

Mr. Adesoji Peters, said: “The Attorney General is the representative of the public in all legal proceedings for the enforcement of law and the assertion or protection of public rights. The Attorney General defends the constitutionality of Bills submitted by the executive and ensures that all Bills initiated by the legislature comply with the Constitution. The AGF is also the Chief Law Officer of the Federation and is complemented by the Offices of the Solicitor General, SGF, and Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP. The prosecutorial powers of the Attorney-General may be exercised by him in person, through officers of his department, or through private legal practitioners under his fiat. Although such prosecutorial powers are most times exercised by the DPP and staff, the Attorney-General maintains formal control, including the power to institute and undertake criminal proceedings against any person before any court of law in Nigeria, other than a court-martial, in respect of any offense created by an Act of the National Assembly, and can take over and continue such criminal proceedings and terminate public prosecutions. Based on my knowledge of Chief  Fagbemi, SAN, he is not only eminently suitable for the office but I can say that he would perform very well in the discharge of the functions of the office. It is hoped that the new AGF will be more objective in his approach and use the office to protect the interest of every section of the country.

He must not encourage lawlessness, disobedience to court orders—Abdul-Rasheed, SAN

Muritala Abdul-Rasheed, SAN, on his part, said: “To somebody like me and certainly all those who are well-acquainted with his pedigree, the emergence of this iconic prince from Ijagbo town in Kwara State as the AGF is a palpable demonstration of the mantra of putting a round peg in a round hole.

Like many other people in the current ministerial list,  Fagbemi,SAN is somebody whose appointment as a minister of the Federal Republic cannot be faulted, both in terms of superlative qualifications he wields and the enviable personal attributes he possesses.

Born on June 22, 1956 in Ijagbo, Kwara State, Prince Fagbemi has made significant and indelible contributions to the development of the legal profession through the expansion of frontiers of jurisprudence in Nigeria. The singular trajectory of his career as a lawyer from the early years attests to the fact that he is a person destined for greatness. He was one time the youngest Senior Advocate of Nigeria, having attained the enviable rank of silk at a youthful age of 37.

This means he got that enviable rank of distinction before his 11th year at the bar, having been called to the Bar in August 1985. This is a rare feat in the legal profession in a country like Nigeria, which boasts of countless number of brilliant minds still dreaming of that rank even in their 50s and 60s.

Prince Fagbemi acquired his initial tutelage, grilling and professional maturation in the hallowed chamber of the legal guru, Chief AfeBabalola, SAN of AfeBabalola SAN and co, within a timeline of eleven years. 

For the past four decades, the now 64-year-old Fagbemi has handled numerous cases in diverse areas of law practice including arbitration, alternative dispute resolution, commercial law, land and border disputes, high-profile political cases, anti-corruption matters, constitutional matters and election petition cases.

As a matter of fact, Fagbemi is at the present the Lead Counsel of the 2023 All Progressives, Congress, APC’s Presidential Election Petition Legal Team, leading a team consisting of twenty seven Senior Advocates of Nigeria.

His nomination as a minister was well received across board particularly within the legal community. 

His views on issues of national importance are always reformatory and progressive, by way of another example, we should recall that he had also once called for enactment of a new law that would reduce political parties in the country to maximum of six.

He was never afraid to speak truth to power, for instance, during the heat of scandals involving the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. BabachirLawal and the ex-chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team, AbdurRasheedMaina.

Given the fact that it is the function of the AGF to advise the government on the constitutionality of policies and actions taken or embarked upon by the government, in addition to providing legal services to support law enforcement agencies and every department or institution of government, a lot of issues on rule of law and constitutionality in a nation rests on the office of the AGF.

It is the famous English philosopher and jurist, Francis Bacon, who was credited as saying that the office of Attorney-General was “the painfullest task in the realm.” The insight to be drawn from this statement is that the roles and responsibilities of the office of the Attorney General are enormous and requires not only somebody with brilliance but also a person with passion, and what is more, conscience, character and integrity to succeed in it.

I have a very big hope that Prince Fagbemi,SAN will succeed. He will definitely be an Attorney General and Minister of Justice that properly advises the government on the constitutional and legal issues, one that upholds the rule of law and denounces lawlessness like disobedience of court orders.

He holds a promise as an AGF that truly represents the interest of the public in legal proceedings for the enforcement of law and the assertion and protection of public rights.”