Profile: Lateef Fagbemi

By Emmanuel Akinwale

Ministers were appointed and their respective portfolios were announced by the Presidency on 16th August. There is no doubt that Lateef Fagbemi’s appointment as Attorney General and Minister of Justice is among these important ministerial appointments.

Undoubtedly, the Nigerian judicial system has come under intense scrutiny over the past few years for the manipulation of justice and the defilement of the basic principles of the rule of law.

With due reference to the constitution, the office of the Attorney General of the Federation is established in accordance with Chapter 6 Section 150(1) which states accordingly that, There shall be an Attorney-General of the Federation who shall be the Chief Law Officer of the Federation and a Minister of the Government of the Federation.

Similarly, section 150(2) of the same Chapter establishes the coordinate requirement to be qualified for the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation which also doubles as a Ministerial office cordial to the Judicial Arm of the Government in the Federation. As stated in Section 150(2) of the 1999 Constitution as Amended,  A person shall not be qualified to hold or perform the functions of the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation unless he is qualified to practice as a legal practitioner in Nigeria and has been so qualified for not less than ten years.

The Constitutional Responsibilities of the Attorney General of the Federation as stated in Section 174(1)(a) (b) and (c) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended are:

• To institute and undertake criminal proceedings against any person before any court of law in Nigeria, other than a court-martial, in respect of any offense created by or under any Act of the National Assembly;
• To take over and continue any such criminal proceedings that any other authority or person may have instituted; and
• To discontinue at any stage before judgment is delivered any such criminal proceedings instituted or undertaken by him or any other authority or person.

With the above requirements given, a nosedive would be done with regard to the portfolio of the incumbent Attorney-General of the Federation.

Prince Fagbemi acquired his initial tutelage and professional maturation in the hallowed chamber of the legal guru, Chief Afe Babalola, SAN of  Afe Babalola SAN and co, within a timeline of eleven years. He then went ahead to establish his own chamber, Lateef Fagbemi & Co, and has not looked back since then. The chamber has since grown in leaps and bounds, with branches now in  Ibadan Lagos, Kwara,  and Abuja.

Fagbemi has vast experience in diverse areas of Law Practice such as arbitration, alternative dispute resolution, commercial law, land and border disputes, high-profile political cases, anti-corruption matters, constitutional matters, and election petition cases.  

Moreover, Fagbemi is the Lead Counsel of the 2023 All Progressives Congress (APC)’s Presidential Election Petition Legal Team, leading a team of 27 Senior Advocates of Nigeria.

In his screening by the Senate in Abuja, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN reiterated his quest for reformed social order when he recommended the unbundling and merger of law enforcement agencies such as the Economic and Financial Commission, (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to ensure efficiency.

Similarly, he recommended that the state agencies involved in the investigation should not be responsible for the prosecution of alleged offenders in order to forestall compromise, shallow investigation, and miscarriage of justice. Lateef Fagbemi holds the idea that highly professional investigating bodies don’t rush to arrest suspected offenders on the basis of insubstantial evidence, but rather bid their time to establish a case that is factual without reasonable doubts.

Recall that, Lateef Fagbemi once called for the enactment of a new law that would reduce political parties in the country to a total number of six.

Also, recall that Lateef Fagbemi called out the government for the manner in which they handled the case of the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Babachir Lawal, and the ex-chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team, AbdulRasheed Maina as highly questionable and raises doubts among Nigerians about the credibility of the Government’s promise to fight corruption.

Malami, Fagbemi’s predecessor, was accused of violating his constitutional role as AGF by demanding $16.9 million for two lawyers, Oladipo Okpeseyi and Temitope Adebayo. Both were reportedly former colleagues of Mr. Malami at the defunct CPC for the loot traced to a former Nigerian Head of State, Sani Abacha, after a Swiss lawyer, Enrico Monfrini, hired and fully paid by the previous government to help in the recovery, had completed his brief.

A HEDA report also alleges that Malami distributed 30 car gifts worth over N1,000,000,000 in Kebbi State to his supporters. The gifts included 14 Mercedes Benz cars, 8 Prado SUVs, 4 Toyota Hilux trucks, and 4 Lexus LX cars. The recipients were social media influencers, members of Malami’s foundation, and women’s support groups.

Fingers remain crossed whether the incumbent AGF irrespective of his affiliation with the ruling party -just as his predecessor to CPC which later formed a coalition to become APC- would remain transparent in his dealings. Will the justice that has been restrained for eight years finally be restored? The future holds the answer.