A former judge of the International Court of Justice, Prince Bola Ajibola, has supported the proposed separation of the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and the Minister of Justice. Ajibola, who served as AGF/Minister of Justice between 1985 and 1991, stated that splitting the two offices was the solution to the abuse of legal processes and conflict of interests in prosecuting criminal cases. Stating that he “suffered the ordeal of wearing the two hats” while in office, the ex-AGF noted that he was unfairly castigated by fellow cabinet members for daring to prosecute a co-minister. A statement made available to our correspondent on Sunday quoted Ajibola as saying that the time has come to separate the two positions in the “interest of justice and public interest.” He said, “It has come to my notice that some of our eminent jurists and distinguish legal practitioners have exhumed discussion on this thorny issue of the Attorney General/Minister of Justice, the position which by our inherited tradition we kept merging together on an incumbent. “As someone who had passed through the ordeal, I think the time has come to separate the two positions so that the Minister of Justice, serving a particular government, is not ‘evoked’ with the service of the Attorney General of the entire Federation of Nigeria. “The time has come when someone who is not a politician but of sound legal mind that could act as an ombudsman (which is the practice in some Scandinavian countries in Europe) should be invited to take up the position as the attorney-general in the public interest and in the interest of justice, equity and the need to prevent corruption and abuse of legal process.” Insisting that the office of the Attorney General of the Federation must be occupied by someone “independent, incorruptible and a legal jurist of high integrity,” Ajibola added that Nigeria should take a cue from the English legal system. “Even in the United Kingdom where we tried to follow their English Legal System, it has the post of the Lord Chancellor as distinct from that of the Secretary of State for Justice with their respective independent functions,” he added. Copyright PUNCH. All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH. Contact: editor@punchng posted on December 29, 2014 at 12:30AM jtnng.blogspot/
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 00:11:20 +0000
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