The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, said the Nigerian judiciary is faced with a funding crisis.
He spoke on Monday while appearing before the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights, and Legal Matters, at the 2022 budget defense.
He was accompanied by acting Solicitor General and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice, Mohammed Etsu, and Director Public Prosecution, M. B. Abubakar.
Malami listed the prime drivers of maturing democracies like Nigeria as Rule of Law, Due Process of the Law, Human Rights, International Obligations and Allied Matters.
According to him, evidence had revealed that the Administration of Justice which guarantees sustainable peace, equity and fair play is undeniably capital intensive.
He said, “In this circumstance, we need to reconceptualize the existing funding pattern of the Justice sector. Practically all the Parastatals under the purview of the Federal Ministry of Justice are in dire need of funding.
“This is as dangerous as it is disturbing because funding gaps in the face of competing challenges could endanger effective administration of Justice, and cause unwarranted travesty of Justice.”
He, however, said the Justice sector is not primarily a revenue-generating sub-sector, adding that the constitutional obligation of the sector revolved around social services geared towards a peaceful and prosperous Nigeria.
“As a subsector, our revenue derives essentially from our constitutional activities and returns such as Value Added Tax, Withholding Tax, Stamp Duties, Returns on DTA, Certified True Copies, earnings from the use of government halls, Tenders Fees, earnings from sales of government unserviceable vehicles, sales of law books and journals and rent of government properties.”
Malami disclosed his ministry’s efforts to get some cost of collection from recovered funds to finance our recovery operations.
He said large sums of illicit money were being stashed abroad, assuring that the AGF’s office, EFCC and ICPC are working to recover.
Malami confirmed the ministry handles public prosecution and civil litigation for the federation and sometimes outsources such services particularly, as it relates to being prosecuted internally where state counsels have legal limitations to court appearances.
“We all know that legal services (especially litigations) are not cheap. Furthermore, the Justice Sector reforms we are currently undertaking are costly to execute. We, therefore, need your kind support with adequate funding to successfully prosecute them.
“To prevent reoccurrence of a case similar to P&ID, Council directed HAGF to present a memo for the establishment of a Federal Taskforce to review and validate contracts, judgments and arbitral awards and implement the Federal Verification System to prevent abuses similar to the P&ID case.
“Council directed the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to incorporate the funding requirements of a Federal Contracts Administration System (FCAS) in Nigeria in the Federal Ministry of Justice’s 2022 Budget proposal.
“As 2022 beckons, I am looking forward to a more refreshing feeling of a common bond between the Justice sub-sector and all the Distinguish Senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for a seamless administration of Justice in Nigeria”, Malami said.