The federal government has hinted at a plan to convene a National Summit on Justice to revise the nation’s policy on the justice system.
[ad]
The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) gave the hint on Tuesday at a 3-day stakeholders forum on the Administration of Criminal Justices (ACJA) held in Abuja.

The AGF specifically said his ministry is making plans with relevant stakeholders to convene a National Summit on Justice to consider and adopt a revised National Policy on Justice, 2024 – 2028.

He noted that there have been a series of interventions since its passage in 2015 stating that great significance was the development of national policy on justice developed in 2017.
[ad]
According to the AGF, the development of the national policy on justice identified some root causes of failure and inadequacies in Nigeria’s entire justice system and sought ways to consolidate various reform efforts as a cross-justice sector institution.

Fagbemi added that second intervening issue since the enactment of ACJA, ” touches on the corrective aspects of our criminal justice system, relates to the recent amendment of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 by the 9th National Assembly – vide Fifth Alteration (No. 15) Act of 2023.”

According to Fagbemi “It has become imperative to properly address issues arising directly from these constitutional changes.
[ad]
“Central among these issues is the need for expedited collaboration and coordination between the respective States of the Federation and the Nigerian Correctional Service, for the purpose of ensuring proper structuration and delineation of responsibilities on custodial and other correctional matters.

“This will help in tackling issues of custodial rights and related correctional policies and its challenges.

“Another issue of critical importance is the challenge of mainstreaming anti-corruption principles within all sectors of the criminal justice system and into subnational public administration. One of the lessons learnt from the implementation of the National Anti-Corruption.”
[ad unit=2]