Get Guardian on GoogleThe Federal Government has reviewed 932 federal enactments and 731 subsidiary legislations, dropping 268 obsolete, spent or repealed laws in a major exercise to update Nigeria’s legal framework for the first time in more than two decades.
Chairman of the Committee for the Review of the Laws of the Federation, Olawale Fapohunda, SAN, disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja while presenting the committee’s final report and draft 20 volumes of the 2025 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) to the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN.
Fapohunda said 664 enactments, alongside their accompanying subsidiary legislation, had been cleared for inclusion in the new edition, while 268 were dropped for being obsolete, spent or repealed.
He said the exercise, which began following the inauguration of the committee in October 2024, was aimed at removing outdated provisions, harmonising conflicting laws and bringing federal legislation in line with contemporary economic, constitutional and technological developments.
According to him, Nigeria’s last comprehensive consolidation of federal laws was undertaken in 2004, leaving significant portions of the statute books without a systematic review for nearly two decades.
He said the committee examined existing legislation, consolidated amendments, corrected errors in numbering and cross-references, standardised commencement dates and identified provisions requiring further legislative attention.
Fapohunda said the exercise involved 14 working groups and technical teams responsible for reviewing different volumes of legislation, with support from digital platforms, virtual meetings and consultations with local and international institutions.
He identified some of the major challenges uncovered during the exercise as archaic statutory language, complicated cross-referencing and outdated fines and fees that no longer reflect prevailing economic realities.
Some statutory fines, he said, were as low as N10 or N50, making a review of such penalties necessary.
The committee also recommended that the Attorney-General issue an advisory note to ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) on established procedures for reviewing their enabling laws and subsidiary legislation.
It further called for a centralised national repository of federal legislation to provide easy access to current laws and facilitate continuous updates.
Fapohunda said the absence of an accessible and consolidated database of federal statutes had significantly complicated the committee’s assignment.
He stressed the need to institutionalise periodic reviews to prevent another prolonged gap between comprehensive consolidations.
Receiving the report, Fagbemi described the exercise as a major milestone in the Federal Government’s efforts to modernise Nigeria’s legal framework and strengthen the justice sector.
He said the last official consolidation was undertaken in 2004, noting that subsequent legislative, constitutional, institutional and technological developments had made another comprehensive review imperative.
Fagbemi commended the committee for examining the 932 federal enactments and 731 subsidiary legislations, saying the findings represented substantial progress towards providing Nigeria with an updated and accessible body of federal laws.
He said the next step would be to present the report to President Bola Tinubu for onward transmission to the National Assembly for necessary legislative consideration and action.
The Attorney-General called for the cooperation of the National Assembly to ensure timely consideration of the proposed legislative measures.
He also said the government would strengthen mechanisms for tracking new enactments, amendments and subsidiary legislation to ensure that the gap of more than 20 years between comprehensive reviews was not repeated.
Fagbemi said the updated laws would serve as a reliable reference for courts, legal practitioners, public institutions, investors and the general public, while promoting the rule of law, effective governance and national development.
