‘Justice sector to drive economic, investment growth under Tinubu’ – AGF Fagbemi

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, has asserted that the justice sector of the country would be transformed to serve as a key catalyst for economic growth, investment drive, and revenue generation under the present dispensation.

Speaking on Thursday in Abuja at a retreat organised for officials of the Federal Ministry of Justice and its agencies, Fagbemi challenged the officials to be prepared to break from routine official engagements to provide a platform to achieve their mandates.

He sought the support of the staff of the ministry, as well as agencies and parastatals under him, towards achieving the performance agreement signed between ministers and President Bola Tinubu.

Fagbemi, who told the staff that their performance as well as successes in assigned tasks go a long way in determining his success, also reminded them of the key role the ministry plays in the attainment of the goals and objectives of other sectors in the political and socioeconomic environment of the country.

“You are all aware that following a Presidential Retreat on November 3, 2023, the President signed a performance bond with cabinet ministers and permanent secretaries, which will serve as a scorecard for ministries.

“The Solicitor General of the Federation, Permanent Secretary and myself signed a performance contract with the President, promising to ensure the performance of the ministerial deliverables assigned to the ministry,” he said.

Noting that the sector plan contains 15 ministerial deliverables, 49 key performance indicators, baselines and targets, Fagbemi further stated: “One of the key performance indicators of this meeting is to cascade the signed bond to the ministry’s management and the Chief Executive Officers of the agencies. Therefore, it is imperative that we all come together to critically understand this performance bond and the variables and be well appraised on what is expected of us to achieve as a ministry or agency.”

While stressing that “the justice sector is pivotal to the attainment of the objectives of other sectors, as well as attaining the universal role of the law as a veritable enabler for development,” Fagbemi harped on the need to urgently reposition the sector for optimal performance and enhanced productivity, in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda.

Some of the areas covered by the sector plan include measures to achieve speedy dispensation of justice, robust engagement with the judiciary, National Assembly and other justice sector institutions, successful prosecution of terrorism and high-profile corruption cases and engagement with relevant MDAs and other stakeholders on enhanced salaries and allowances for federal judicial officers.

Others are coordination and collaboration between relevant organisations under the Proceeds of Crime Act (Recovery and Management) POCA, implementation of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy, and compliance with laws and policies on public procurement to mitigate contract failure and reduce FG judgement debts, amongst others.