‘Government prosecuted 6,646 criminal cases last legal year’

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), yesterday disclosed that the Federal Ministry of Justice had prosecuted 6,646 criminal cases between 2015 and 2016.

Noting that the Department of Public Prosecutions of the Justice Ministry was saddled with the responsibility of prosecuting all crimes against the state, Malami also said that as part of the activities and achievements of the ministry, the Department of Civil Litigation concluded over 325 out of 1,330 civil cases within the period under review.

In a statement issued by his office, the minister added that more than 90 per cent of the matters determined within the time-frame was decided in favour of the Federal Government.

According to the statement, justice ministry is government’s primary institution for the administration of justice with an overall mandate for the articulation, promotion and defense of constitutional values and principles in the governance of the federation.

He said: “These cases reflect different criminal conducts and omissions bothering on terrorism, oil theft, culpable homicide, rape, armed robbery, fatal accident, unlawful possession of arms and criminal negligence.”

Malami, who insisted that the ministry must be consistent in maintaining its mandate of making justice accessible to all and with the ideals of democracy and rule of law, added: “Between 2016 and 2017 judicial year, the civil litigation department under the leadership of the new Solicitor-General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary, Mr. Dayo Apata, saved the Federal Government over N119 billion and $14.7 million.

“The AGF proactively proposed institutional reforms for better performance to enable the nation meet up with contemporary law enforcement strategies and rule of law through creation of co-ordinating centres for all Federal Government criminal justice agencies; establishment of investigation unit, prisons reform and decongestion programme as well as judgment department verification and compliance committee.”