Abubakar Malami, minister of justice and attorney general of federation, has restated the commitment of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to the provision of justice and better life for the down-trodden in the country.
Speaking during the opening ceremony of a 2-day retreat held on Friday in Lokoja with the theme ‘Repositioning Legal Aid Council for Better Service Delivery,’ Malami pointed out that the retreat was coming at a time when the country needed to ensure that every Nigerian had unhindered justice.
According to him, the Legal Aid Council has a lot of role to play to ensure that Nigerians have access to justice, thus he called for the repositioning of council for the task ahead.
“The council, which was established in 1976 with the promulgation of Legal Aid Decree No 56, was also mandated to handle criminal matters. But with passage of time and upsurge of civil matters, the act was repealed in 2011, wherein the mandate of the council was expanded to cover both criminal and civil matters. This has in no small measure enabled the council to cover substantial ground in the administration of Justice in Nigeria,” he said.
Earlier his address, Abubakar Aliyu, director general, Legal Aid Council, said the council had a long history spanning over 40 years of service to the indigent Nigerians.
He stated that the place of the council in the administration of justice in Nigeria cannot be over-emphasised. “Together with other key stakeholders such as the Nigerian Police Force, Nigerian Correctional Service and with the support of our parent Ministry, we have been able to achieve some level of success in the discharge of our mandate as contained in the enabling Act.”
Justice Nasiru Ajanah, the chief Judge of Kogi State, who commended the council for its role in administration of justice in Kogi State, said the Council had always been part of Correctional Centre’s decongestion exercise.
