Hope As Panel Unveils New Federal Laws

The Nigerian Law Reform Commission (NLRC) started reviewing all
federal laws in June. It is on course to deliver a new edition of
Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) next month, writes Eric
Ikhilae .

On June 13, the Nigerian Law Reform Commission (NLRC) announced
that it had secured President Muhammadu Buhari’s approval to revise
the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.

It followed the recommendation of Attorney-General of the
Federation Abubakar Malami (SAN).

The commission is mandated under Section 5(2) (d) of the NLRC
Act, Cap, N118, LFN 2004 to carry out periodic review of federal
laws.

Its Chairman, Kefas Magaji, said the objective of the exercise
“is to produce a new edition of the Laws of the Federation of
Nigeria, which will include revised edition of all extant Acts in
Nigeria, particularly all federal enactments (including amendments)
made since the last revision exercise (December 31, 2002); all
federal enactment omitted in the laws of the Federation of Nigeria
2004 edition and subsidiary instruments made under these
enactments.”

Magaji, at a briefing on June 13, regretted that this revision
was coming about 15 years after the last one. He said the country
had fallen behind international best practices, which require that
countries undertake revision of their laws every 10 years.

He noted that country’s delay in revising its laws has not only
occasioned a “huge gap in the body of laws, it has negatively
affected the smooth operation of government’s institutions and the
effective administration of justice, particularly in terms of
awareness, access, implementation, citation, referencing and use of
extant laws.”

Magaji noted that, since the last revised laws were published in
2004, many of the 552 existing Acts of the National Assembly have
either been further amended or repealed, with new ones enacted
within the period.

On June 19, the NLRC held a national summit on law reform, where
law experts and other stakeholders were afforded the opportunity to
examine the process and make suggestions on how best to effect the
review.

Along with the summit, the NLRC also engaged in preliminary
research works to identify all the existing laws, all federal laws
passed since the last revision exercise (December 31st 2002), all
federal enactment omitted in the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria
2004 and all amendments to the existing federal enactments.

The research was also meant to identify all federal enactments
repealed after the last revision, all subsidiary legislation made
pursuant to the existing federal enactment, all amendment to the
subsidiary legislations, all spent federal enactments (Acts and
subsidiary instruments) and all judicial pronouncement voiding an
enactment, subsidiary legislation or any part or section(s) of such
enactment

In the course of the research, the NLRC wrote to all the Federal
Ministries in March 2018, informing them of the revision exercise
and requested that they avail it with both electronic and hard
copies of all the principal Acts and subsidiary instruments from
May 1999 till date, being administered by the ministry and all the
Agencies/parastatals under them for inclusion in the revision
exercise.

This was followed by a newspaper publication, titled: “Notice of
law revision exercise/call for memoranda,” in March 27, 2018.

The publication requested all ministries departments and
agencies of the Federal Government (MDAs), established by law;
heads of all federal courts and Clerk of the National Assembly to
submit to the NLRC, a gazette or assented or other authentic copy
of the law establishing the institution, other laws relating to
their mandate and all subsidiary instrument (regulation, rules,
order etc.) made under or pursuant to those laws.

In addition, the NLRC also sent some of its staff and those of
the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture to the Federal
Printing Press, Lagos to obtain gazetted copies of the principal
Acts and subsidiary instruments made under them.

Satisfied that it has gathered enough materials sufficient for
the exercise, the NLRC subsequently commissioned a group of
experts, selected from the academia, legal practitioners, law
researchers, among others to go through the laws carefully by
pointing out errors, omissions, unnecessary words and wrong
references.

The experts were also to point out voided sections of the laws,
amendments made, and those repealed; to identify spent and obsolete
laws, and make necessary recommendations for the corrections to be
effected. The experts commenced work in July 2018 and completed the
review in September, 2018.

To ensure the authenticity and correctness of the work of the
group of experts, the NLRC, on October 17, inaugurated a Review
Group, made up of seasoned and experienced law revision experts to
review the work of the group of experts group and make necessary
recommendations to it (the NLRC).

Members of the Review Group include Chief Solomon Awomolo (SAN);
Prof. Ayo Atsenuwa; Illokatune Sanusi (SAN); Prof. Jummai Audi;
Prof. M.L. Ahmadu; Chairman NLRC, Kefas Magaji; Prof. Joy Ezeilo;
Prof. Yemi Akinseye-George (SAN); O.Y. Abdul-Hamid; Prof. Oluduro
Bayo; Prof. Peter Akper (SAN); Prof. Ofonze Amucheazi (SAN);
General Pat Akem and Mr. Chibueze Okorie

In a statement issued last week, the NLRC said, at the
completion of the works of the Review Group, “the final stage of
the law revision exercise will be the drafting, proof-reading and
printing Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2018, which is expected
to be completed on or before the end of November, 2018.”