AGF reaffirms commitment to upholding rule of law, fair justice system

By Vivian Okejeme Abuja

Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), on Thursday, reaffirmed his Ministry’s commitment to upholding the rule of law, ensuring equitable access to justice, and building a justice system that is fair, transparent, and responsive to the needs of all citizens.

Prince Fagbemi insisted the office of AGF and Justice Ministery are determined to foster a justice sector that inspires confidence and delivers on its mandate to serve the people.

“We shall remain steadfast in our dedication to fostering a justice system that is fair, efficient, and upholds the highest standards of integrity by safeguarding the rights of all and promoting equitable and speedy access to justice.

“To sustain the foregoing objectives, we will continue to refine our procedures, invest in capacity building and inter-agency collaboration with key justice sector stakeholders, in line with the National Policy on Justice (2024 – 2028), which provides the framework for improving access to justice, judicial independence, and efficiency” Fagbemi stated.

The Justice Minister stated this at a special engagement session organized to update Nigerians and stakeholders on measures and achievements of the Federal Ministry of Justice and its Agencies in the area of advancing the administration of criminal justice, from October 2024 to date.

The AGF took time to reel out some of the achievements of his Ministry for the period under review, while pledging to address challenges militating against the full implementation of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015, and other similar legislations essential for promoting access to criminal justice for all Nigerians.

Fagbemi stated the Ministry and  its agencies whose mandates involve access to criminal justice both for the victim, the accused, and ultimately, the State, have worked to improve prosecution of offences in the country.

“These achievements came about as a result of extant policies and actions targeted at improving the capacity of our prosecutors, increasing synergy amongst prosecuting agencies, developing appropriate policy framework in collaboration with office of the NSA and other law enforcement or security agencies” the AGF said.

More so, he said the Ministry’s capacity development efforts were conducted in key areas of general investigation and prosecution strategy, cyber security, forensic analysis and electronic evidence, financial investigation and prosecution, energy related offences, piracy and other maritime offences, including sexual and gender based violence.

The review period, the AGF stated,  also witnessed effective conduct of 237 terrorism cases from 9th – 13th December 2024, out of which 226 terrorism suspects were successfully prosecuted and convicted.

Apart from feats in the area of protection for women, children and vulnerable persons, the Justice Minister said they have continued to foster collaboration and cooperation with the international community, in order to ensure that there is no safe haven for criminals.