The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), has directed that all Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) should be the reviewed, updated, and consolidated within the next six months.
Fagbemi gave the directive yesterday in Abuja while inaugurating a 46-member committee – also called the 46 wise men – he constituted for that purpose.
The committee, which comprises law experts and members of some legislative houses, is to be jointly chaired by a former Ekiti State Attorney-General and Justice Commissioner Olawale Fapohunda (SAN) as well as the Chairman of the Nigerian Law Reform Commission (NLRC), Prof. Jummai Audi.
Fagbemi said the initiative is part of ongoing efforts of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration to promote the rule of law and better access to justice across the country.
He said the law review is in line with 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 ensure clarity, predictability, consistency and uniformity.
Fagbemi said the general purpose of any law is to protect public interest as well as regulate human behaviours and interactions between corporate entities.
The AGF stressed that the law is dynamic and constantly evolving, hence the need for continuous review or reform of the body of laws (corpus juris) to address contemporary socio-economic developments, resolve conflicting and obsolete provisions with the ultimate aim of improving the administration of justice and promotion of the rule of law.
The terms of reference for the committee, which has six months to turn in its report to the AGF, are: to coordinate the collection, collation and compilation of Nigeria Laws up to 2024, work with relevant government agencies in harmonising the laws up to 2024 and crosscheck, edit and proof-read all the legislations to be collected.
Other terms of reference include to identify all legislations not included in the 2004 edition of the LFN and update same, identify outdated or redundant laws in the current LFN that need repeal, merge laws addressing related matters to eliminate redundancy, prepare a comprehensive report of findings to the AGF/Ministry of Justice thereafter and perform and undertake any lawful assignment incidental thereto.
Fagbemi urged the committee’s members to work in synergy and exhibit patriotism in the overall interest of the nation.
The AGF hoped that the report of the committee and copies of the draft volumes of Laws of the Federation 2024 would be ready within the six-month time frame.
