The Federal Government has constituted a working group on the Review of the Laws of the Federation.
This development was disclosed today by the Honorable Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister for Justice, Lateef Fagbemi SAN, in his address to the special session of the Supreme Court of Nigeria to mark the beginning of 2024/2025 Legal year and the conferment of the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria.
Fagbemi said, ” President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR is aware of the concerns about the status of our laws and the urgent need to review the laws of the Federation.”
He further stated that “It is obvious that our laws need to respond to current developments not only Nationally but also Globally. Our desire to make rapid progress in all aspects of our socio-economic and indeed political life requires that we have enabling and empowering legislation.”
According to him, this is why the Federal Government has constituted a working group on the Review of the Laws of the Federation, which will be chaired by Olawale Fapohunda, SAN.
Fapohunda is a two-term Attorney General of Ekiti State. He has played a leading role in law reform interventions at the federal and state levels. He was instrumental in the enactment of several justice sector reform laws, including the recent Judicial Remuneration Act, which, among other things, increased the salaries of judicial officers by 300%.
Others are the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, the Ekiti State Administration of Civil Justice Law, the Evidence Act ( as amended), the Police Act ( as amended), the Correctional Services Act, the National Human Rights Commission Act, and the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria Act.
The mandate of the working group is to review and update the Laws of the Federation. It is noteworthy that the last time this exercise was carried out was in 2004.
Fagbemi stated the Federal Government’s determination to deliver revised Laws of the Federation by the commencement of the 2024-2025 legal year.
