27th May, 2024
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has faulted the Federal Government’s suit on 36 state governors over local government autonomy.
The Attorney General of the federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi had sued the 36 state governors at the Supreme Court seeking the enforcement of full autonomy of the local governments in Nigeria.
Speaking while declaring open the two-day Lagos State Justice Reforms Summit in Ikeja, Lagos on Monday, Sanwo-Olu said the only mistake the AGF made was to sue all states of the federation not minding that some states were in compliance with the local government autonomy.
He said the AGF should have done due diligence by identifying the states that were not in compliance with the local government autonomy and take them to the Supreme Court.
In his words: “It was in the news today that the Attorney General of the Federation sued all 36 states because we are not with the local government autonomy law.
“The only mistake made by the Attorney General of the Federation was that some of us are in compliance. The AGF should have done due diligence to identify the states that are not in compliance, whether it is 31 or so and take them to the Supreme court.”
Speaking on the Summit, Sanwo-Olu compared Lagos with Singapore that has made giant stride in its judiciary system and access to justice which had boosted the ease of doing business in that country.
He said Lagos is home to international businesses and has also taken a lead in judiciary reforms in the nation, adding that what the state needed right now is to take the level of its success to the international scale, stressing that “we cannot sit back, Singapore is less than the population of Lagos.”
On rule of law, the governor stated that no nation could be peaceful without rule of law, charging members of the judiciary in Lagos to think out of the box at the summit.
“We cannot sit back and hope that is the best we can do. As a nation, do we just want to be the giant of Africa for nothing with no proper rule of law and access to justice? Singapore has make wave on ease of doing business. We are not near the level they have attained on the ease of doing business,” he said.
Sanwo-Olu also said Singapore had also ensured that their best brains work in the public service, saying that Lagos State has a public service “we can be proud, but we need to do more. We are restricted by a bigger name call Nigeria, but that will not be excuse for us. Leadership is all about what you put in your heart.”
The governor charged members of the Lagos judiciary to move very quickly and think out of the box on how best to reform the justice system in the state.
Sanwo-Olu also questioned how long it would take the federal government to allow for the operation of state police, lamenting that people are playing politics with it.
He added that “We are planning to make Lagos an international financial centre, an haven for investment worldwide and for us to do that, we need a strong judicial system. We expect a lot from the bar and bench, there is a lot we can do. Transparency and accountability is important to build a society to be proud of and if we don’t have it, we will just be passers-by.”
In his welcome address, the Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Lawal Pedro, SAN, said the dispensation of justice and the need to ensure an effective judicial system is a paramount role that all stakeholders in the Justice system must strive to achieve if the State and the Nation must achieve the desired development.
“At the recent Press briefing of the Ministry of Justice I was asked a pertinent question what is different from this summit and the previous justice summits held by previous administration? My answer was, to focus not only access to justice for all but to enhance administration of justice for improved economic activities, investment protection and security in Lagos State.
“Therefore, at the end of the Summit it is expected that stakeholders will recommend lawful ways and means to
address delayed justice. It is my desire that civil cases in our trial courts should not last more than 18 months from date of commencement of an action and 6 months in cases of simple recovery of debt and 3 months in cases of recovery of arrears of rents and possession of premises,” he said.
To underscore the objectives of this summit, Pedro stated that the the State Ministry of Commerce, Cooperatives, Trade and Investment just revealed that in the last one year the State government successfully attracted about N50 billion investment in both foreign and local direct investment.
“Therefore, in case of any dispute the investment should not be unduly tied down by protracted litigation. Therefore, my Lords, my colleagues and other stakeholders in the justice sector, my appeal is that as we continue to safeguard the rule of law and promote access to justice, the administration of justice should be used for enhancement of economic growth, investment protection and security in the State and Nigeria in general.
“I, therefore, call on all us to join this partnership so that together we can improve and transform the justice system in the State to meet the needs of our people and restore the public trust and confidence in the judiciary and the rule of law,” Pedro said.
The Chief Judge of Lagos State, Kazeem Alogba, in his remarks, emphasised that without justice, no society could thrive, saying that the justice system must be robust and healthy.
Alogba said the discuss at the summit is about the basic foundation of any society as there would not be peace if there is no proper justice system.
“If there is no justice, there will not be peace in the society. Security is very important. Whatever you do with the law will impact directly on the society,” he stated.
He charged the stakeholders at the summit to make workable suggestions and not just speaking grammar.
The CJ also emphasied on the integrity of the judges, saying this would go a long way in determining the kind of society built.
“When we have judges who lack integrity and incompetent, the society will suffer. If you have judges with integrity and competent, the society will not suffer and be happy,” Alogba said.