Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) breezed into the premises of the Federal Ministry of Justice in Abuja a little after 3pm on August 21, 2023 to formally assume office as the substantive Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, having been administered the oath of office, along with other ministerial nominees, a moment earlier by President Bola Tinubu. He is almost two years in office. In this report, ASSISTANT EDITOR, ERIC IKHILAE recalls his activities so far.
The story about how President Bola Tinubu eventually settled for him as the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice among others senior lawyers, who were eyeing the office, has not been fully told. But, reports about the resolve by Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) to positively impact the nation’s justice sector and reform it for effectiveness are already on the streets.
While speaking with senior officials of the Federal Ministry of Justice on his first day in office on August 21, 2023, Fagbemi assured of his commitment to duties and sought the support of key stakeholders in his efforts to revamp the system.
Fagbemi noted that the office of the AGF was strategic because it services all government ministries, agencies and departments, and agencies, and solicited the cooperation of the staff of the ministry in the achievement of his mandate.
Since then, Fagbemi has continued to take steps and evolve initiatives directed as achieving his set goal.
As a measure to broaden the road map for his intended goal, the AGF brought together law experts and other stakeholders in the nation’s justice delivery sector to examine how best to reposition the justice system for efficiency.
The event was the 2024 National Summit on Justice held between April 24 and 25 in Abuja with the theme: “Repositioning the Justice sector in Nigeria: Constitutional, Statutory and operational reforms for access and efficiency.”
Contributions were robust, exhaustive and frank. And, when the curtains eventually fell at about 6 pm on April 25, enough recommendations were harvested.
And, unlike the case under his immediate predecessor, where there were recorded frictions among agencies and personnel under the ministry, Fagbemi appears to have been able to achieve a system that allows for seamless collaboration and mutual work relationships among the agencies and officials of the justice ministry.
He has been able to achieve this through his initiative of organising retreat for officials o the ministry and agencies under it.
One of such retreats, tagged “ministerial retreat for the Ministry of Justice and its agencies,” was held on January 18, 2024 in Abuja.
While addressing participants, Fagbemi he called for enhanced collaborations and assured of his commitment to rally justice sector stakeholders to provide all necessary supports for the success of the Federal Government’s development agenda.
He stressed the urgent need to reposition the justice sector for utmost performance in view of its pivotal role in the success of all other sectors in their assigned responsibilities.
Shortly after the summit, Fagbemi took on the lingering issue of how to free the Local Governments from the stranglehold of the state governors, who see the third tier of government as an extension of their office.
In doing this, he initiated as suit before the Supreme Court against all the state governors.
In the suit, marked SC/CV/343/2024 filed on May 20, 2024 Fagbemi prayed the court for among others, an order prohibiting state governors from unilateral, arbitrary, and unlawful dissolution of democratically elected leaders for local governments.
It also prayed the Supreme Court for an order permitting the funds standing in the credits of local governments to be directly channelled to them from the federation account in line with the provisions of the Constitution as against the alleged unlawful joint accounts created by governors
It wanted an order stopping governors from constituting caretaker committees to run the affairs of local governments as against the constitutionally recognized and guaranteed democratic system.
In a judgment on July 2024, th Supreme Court agreed with Fagbemi that it was wrong to keep the Local Governments perpetually under the stranglehold of the governors.
The apex court, among others, issued an order restraining the states from further taking control or utilising allocations meant for the third tier of government and held that it was wrong for state government to retain and utilise Local Governments’ statutory allocations paid through them for onward transfer to the councils.
The Supreme Court declared unlawful the running of Local Governments by non-elected officials and those appointed by the state government or governor and barred the Federal Government from releasing funds to Local Governments being managed by undemocratically elected officials.
It equally declared as a gross misconduct the dissolution of democratically elected Local Governments by governors, whose responsibility, under Section 7 (1) of the Constitution is to ensure the existence of democratically elected Local Governments.
On October 24, 2024 Fagbemi inaugurated a 46-member committee he constituted to review, update and consolidate all laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) within six months.
The committee made up of law experts and members of some legislative houses was jointly chaired by former Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice in Ekiti State, Olawale Fapohunda (SAN) and the Chairman of the Nigerian Law Reform Commission (NLRC), Professor Jummai Audi.
Fagbemi said the initiative was part of efforts to promote the rule of law and access to justice in the country, adding that the law review exercise is in line with the Federal Government’s policy objectives of enabling socio-economic growth and advancing legal reforms.
The AGF expressed concern about the country’s inability to update the laws of the federation since 2004 to allow enable clarity, predictability, consistency and uniformity in the body of laws.
On April 14, the committee gave a progress report on its assignment, during which its Chairman and former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Ekiti State, Olawale Fapohunda (SAN) said the committee had so far reviewed 697 laws out of the mandated 737 and that, with just 40 outstanding to go, the committee will deliver in 2025.
Also, in 2024, Fagbemi constituted a prison visitation panel, comprising of law experts to assess the state of prisons in the country.
The panel turned in its report on March 19, 2025 and disclosed that it found that the conditions of the correctional centres and their inmates wre appalling and unbearable.
In its report, submitted to the AGF, the panel, said it equally found that most inmates are languishing in prisons due to lack of legal representation and the inability of the Legal Aid Council (LAC) to cope with the huge number of cases.
The panel urged the AGF to convene an emergency meeting of Body of Attorneys-General to debate the issue of the deplorable conditions of prisons and inmates and come out with concrete remedy that will make life bearable for the inmates.
To avert a recurrence of the botched contractual relationship between the country and an Irish firm, Process & Industrial Developments Ltd (P&ID), the AGF on November 11, 2024 inaugurated a committee to audit agreements or memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Accelerated Gas Development Projects (AGDPs).
The committee, chaired by a former Attorney General of Lagos State Olasupo Shasore (SAN), is tasked with the responsibility of guiding the government to avoid a repeat of the nation’s most unpleasant experience in the P&ID case which originated from one of such AGDPs.
The AGF said: “The committee will keenly review the AGDP agreements with a view to ensuring avoidance of potential landmines or other forms of liability and achieving a final closure against predatory investors.
Th minister explained that the Shasore-led committee and an earlier inaugurated committee for the review of Bilateral Investment Treaties and Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission Act, are intended to avert unintended consequences.
On January 10, 2025, Fagbemi and the Ambassador of the United States, Richard M. Mills Jr. executed an Asset Return Agreement (ARA) for the repatriation of approximately $52.88million arising from the forfeiture of the Galactica assets, linked to the former Petroleum Resources Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke and her associates.
By the agreement, $50m of the repatriated funds was to be utilized through the World Bank, to partly fund the Rural Electrification Project to increase the reliability and availability of renewable energy in Nigeria.
The balance of $2.88m was to be disbursed as a grant by Nigeria to the International Institute for Justice (IIJ) to support “the Rule of Law and Counter-Terrorism Project,” through counter-terrorism capacity building for Criminal Justice Sector Practitioners in East, West, and North Africa.
On February 11 this year, the AGF inaugurated the National Anti -Corruption Strategy (NACS) Ministerial Committe as a measure to ensure the success of federal government’s initiatives aimed at combating corruption and related vices.
The committee is saddled with the responsibility of engaging in enlightenment to enable relevant government agencies, ministries and departments understand their roles under the National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS).
Members of the committee include the AGF as the Chairman, while other members are the Ministers of Finance, Interior, Foreign Affairs, information and National Orientation, Women Affairs, and Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy.
Also included are the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation; Chairman, Senate Committee on Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes; Chairman, House committee on Anti-corruption and Financial crimes; and Representative of Secretary to the Government of the Federation, not below the rank of Permanent Secretary.
The AGF launched the Joint Case Team on Cybercrimes (JCTC) on
April 29, 2025 and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on tackling cybercrime between Nigeria and the UK.
Fagbemi explained that the launch of the JCTC was the birth of a vision built on a collaborative approach to combating the menace of cybercrime as well as a vision that finds its foundation in the principles of synergy, coordination and mutual respect among institutions committed to justice.
He noted that while there is the need for a national legal framework for combating cybercrime, it is important to note that, laws alone cannot win battles, stressing the need to equip, unite and empower the people who interpret, enforce, and apply the laws to act swiftly, cohesively and effectively.
The AGF stated that an effective criminal justice response requires seamless cooperation between relevant actors – the investigators and prosecutors, noting that, cyber criminals may exploit lack of coordination.
He said the JCTC was not intended to take over the statutory powers of individual team members, but a model rooted in respect for institutional mandates, promoting inter-agency relationship and intelligence sharing.
He added: “It envisions a justice system not stifled by bureaucratic bottlenecks but driven by the common goal of achieving efficiency; where investigators and prosecutors work side by side, from the very onset of a case—aligning strategies, harnessing resources, harmonizing efforts, building capacity and ultimately collectively achieving desired results.”
Members of the JCTC are drawn from the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrimes Centre (NPFNCCC), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Nigeria Computer Emergency Response Team (NgCert), from the Office of the National Security Adviser, Federal Ministry of Justice, and the Federal High Court of Nigeria.
Fagbemi has sparingly intervened in contentious national issues with a view to educating all on the true position of the law.
He made such intervention on April 18, 2024 expressed discomfort about the unwillingness of the immediate past governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello to honour an invitation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Fagbemi described as a “bizarre drama” the confrontation that operatives, who had gone to arrest Bello in his Abuja home, experienced in their attempt to arrest Bello.
The AGF was emphatic in stating that the EFCC has the power to invite anybody in the course of its investigation, adding that the most anybody, who is invited by the EFCC or other lawy enforcement agencies, could do is to honour the invitation and clear his or her name.
Fagbemi also issued a similar clarification on December 19, 2024 when he faulted the purported suspension of Local Government Chairmen and Vice Chairmen in Edo State by the state’s House of Assembly.
Fagbemi stated categorically that it is unlawful for a state’s House of Assembly to suspend duly elected Local Government leaders.
The AGF said the only organ with such power was the Legislature at the Local Government level.
The Edo House of Assembly had, few days earlier, passed a resolution suspending the Chairmen and Vice Chairmen of the state’s 18 Local Government Areas for two months.
The House directed the leaders of the LGAs’ legislative arms to take over the leadership of their respective councils.
The Edo State lawmakers reportedly acted pursuant to a complaint by the state governor, Sunday Okpebholo, who accused the council leaders of insubordination for allegedly failing to comply with his directive to submit their councils’ financial records to him.
Fagbemi said such resolution was unlawful and undemocratic.
It is the opinion among the majority within the nation’s legal circle that there currently a major departure from what was the case in the federal justice ministry before Fagbemi.
They are however, of the view that a lot of ground still exist to be covered to ensure that the nation’s justice system becomes more accessible and could deliver actual justice always, irrespective of theq parties in the dispute.
