Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu said the state should have been left out of the legal action instituted by the Federal Government against governors at the Supreme Court over alleged misconduct in the administration of local governments.
Sanwo-Olu said it was a legal oversight for Lagos to be joined in the Supreme Court matter, since local governments in the state had been enjoying full autonomy decades ago.
The governor said this at the ongoing Justice Reform Summit organised by Lagos State Judiciary with the theme: “Enhancing the Administration of Justice for Economic Growth, Investment Protection and Security in Lagos.”
Supporting the suit, Sanwo-Olu said the attorney-general of the federation should have identified those that were not in compliance with the law before filing a blanket lawsuit against all states.
In attendance were Lateef Fagbemi, the AGF and minister of justice.
Furthermore, Sanwo-Olu said infringement on the local council autonomy was an affront to the spirit of the constitution to which the judiciary must make a clear interpretation for equity and fairness.
He said a better justice system would protect the interests of parties and discourage actions limiting the efficiency of any government entity.
“It is interesting to read the news that the Honourable Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation has sued all the 36 states because Governors did not give autonomy to the third tier of government. The only mistake, which I am going to tell our Attorney-General, is that some of us comply.
“The Attorney-General should have done his due diligence to identify which states are not in compliance so that we don’t sue all the 36 states together. You can determine which states are not violating the constitution. If it is three, four or five states are in compliance, then you can sue the 31 states for violating the autonomy of the local governments. That is part of the back work that we need to do.”
Sanwo-Olu said that judicial reform must remain on the agenda in a functional society to improve the administration of the justice system and make the court the last hope of the common man.
The governor said the judiciary in Lagos had remained a beacon in protecting the rule of law and setting good examples for other jurisdictions in the dispensation of justice. However, he challenged judges and law officers to change the status quo to raise the standard of the justice system.
He said: “Just like Lagos, Singapore has no resources. Singapore is what it is today because of the Ease of Doing Business. It takes less than 30 minutes to register a business in Singapore, which makes it surpass many countries in Ease of Doing Business. Singapore has one of the best judiciary systems in the world; they have quick turnaround time in mediation and dispute resolution.”
Justice Kayode Ariwoola, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), represented by Justice Iyabode Yerima of the Supreme Court, hailed the Lagos judicial system for being “a forerunner” in justice development, stressing that other jurisdictions usually borrowed from examples set by Lagos.
Fagbemi, represented by Fernandez Marcos-Obiene, said transparent reforms embarked on by Lagos in the justice system had promoted economic growth, pledging tha¹t¹ the Federal Government would continue to provide platforms for reforms that would improve public trust in the judiciary.
Chief Justice of Lagos, Justice Kazeem Alogba, commended Sanwo-Olu for his non-interference stance in judicial matters in Lagos.
Alleluia is the Assistant Editor and Content Writer at LagosPost.ng. She is a prolific writer and editor, she has written features and news stories on Lifestyle, Sports, Business, Politics and B2B marketing. She is also an event coordinator, host and social media content creator.
