We’re leaving behind safe, secured Lagos – TheNigerialawyer

Lagos Justice Commissioner and Attorney-General, Mr.
Adeniji Kazeem (SAN), in this interview with FOLUSO OGUNMODEDE,
speaks on Governor Akinwunmi Ambode-led administration’s scorecard,
DNA forensic centre, plea bargain, prison and traffic congestion,
among many other issues

The tenure of Ambode-led government will expire on May
29, what legacy are you leaving behind as Lagos State
Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice?

Under my watch as Attoney-General, the justice sector in Lagos
State has experienced the implementation of programmes aimed at
giving the people of Lagos State greater access to justice through
dynamic law reforms and adherence to the Rule of Law.
Owing to the cooperation and support received from State House of
Assembly, the Judiciary, the Police, the Prison Services and other
security operatives, we have been able to collectively ensure that
our dear state is a safe and secure environment for all regardless
of our different tribes, religious and political affiliations.

One of the common faces of Lagos before Governor
Akinwunmi Ambode’s emergence was street trading, traffic congestion
among many others. How did your leadership of Justice Ministry
address this?

Upon assumption of office as Attorney-General, my first major
assignment was to work towards the expansion and functionality of
the Mobile Court in conjunction with the Lagos State Judiciary.
Through the successful running of the Mobile Court system, we have
been able to reduce street trading, traffic congestion and
unethical/anti-social conducts on the roads as environmental
nuisances, thereby improving the socio-economic well-being of the
residents of Lagos State.

We recognized the importance of creating awareness of the law
that were being passed by the Lagos State House of Assembly,
therefore, we created a web portal where all Laws & Regulations
of Lagos State are available online. The dedicated web portal,
http:laws.lagosstate.gov.ng is regularly updated with all new laws
and regulations and has since the launch recorded an average of
100,000 users every month and over 10,000 downloads of the laws of
Lagos State.

Before this government, the fear of land grabbers was
the beginning of mission in Lagos. How
did the government tackle this menace?

We are all witnesses to how the activities of land grabbers
popularly known as ‘Omo Onile’ were almost completely stifling
commercial activities in the state before we came on board. In
order to reduce to the barest minimum the activities of those
notorious persons, who use force and intimidation to dispossess or
prevent any person or entity from acquiring legitimate interest and
possession of property, we created the Lagos State Special
Taskforce on Land Grabbers popularly known as ‘Omo Onile Taskforce’
with a mandate to rid the state of land grabbers. The Task Force
has continued to receive petitions and several criminal prosecution
cases against suspected land grabbers are currently ongoing in
different courts.

What would you refer to as one of the significant
achievements of the Ambode-led government?

The DNA forensic centre is another landmark achievement of this
administration that is worthy of being mentioned. The centre which
was set up on the 3rd of May 2017 is of world class standard and
the first by any government in Nigeria. Our ultimate aim of setting
up the centre was to create an enabling environment for proper
investigation, prosecution of crimes, adjudication and the
administration of Justice in the state.

Under my watch as Attorney-General, the Ministry of Justice in
January, 2017 organised a stakeholders summit themed the
“Contemporary Trends: Catalysts for Justice Sector Reform in Lagos
State;” where stakeholders from the public and private sector
critically brainstormed on the collective ways to review the
existing system and to introduce contemporary reforms in the
justice system of Lagos State. The report on modalities to
implement the proposed reforms has since been forwarded to the
appropriate authorities including the National Judicial Service
Commission, Chief Judge of Nigeria (CJN), Attorney-General of the
Federation (AGF) and the Chief Judge of Lagos State for input and
contribution.

To create a viable system for monitoring the prosecution of
sexual offences in the state, we established the sexual offences
and Child Justice Unit to ensure timely prosecution of sexual and
gender-based violence cases at the newly designated sexual offences
court, High Court of Lagos State, Ikeja Judicial Division.

What would you say has helped access to justice in Lagos
State?

In 2018, we designed and created an online platform for the
Lagos Public Interest Law Partnership (LPILP) to give room for
accessibility. Through the LPILP, we have facilitated easy access
to justice by firming out Pro Bono matters to private chambers and
Legal Practitioners. The private chambers take up civil/criminal
suits on behalf of LASG and defend/prosecute the said suits for the
good of the public free of charge.

How has the Rapid Tax Prosecution Unit launched by the
Ministry of Justice helped the course of justice in the
state?

In line with the commitment of the Ministry of Justice to
provide adequate support to the Lagos State Internal Revenue
Service (LIRS) on its mission to ensure that tax payers comply with
tax laws and ensure full tax compliance through prosecution of
defaulters, we set up the Rapid Tax Prosecution Unit. This
enforcement procedure has ensured some level of compliance with tax
defaulters approaching LIRS to offset their outstanding tax
liabilities.

To enhance due diligence in property transactions in the state,
in 2017, we launched the E-Real Estate Litigation Database to
provide ease of access to information to anyone who wants to deal
in a property with information primarily on whether the property is
a subject to litigation. Since its launch on 30th January 2018, the
portal has recorded over 1,000,000 hits and over 10,000 “unique” or
consistent users from Nigeria, United States, United Kingdom, South
Africa and others.

To what extent would you say plea bargain has helped
Justice delivery system in Lagos state?

The introduction and utilization of the Plea Bargain Protocol
has reduced the time spent on criminal cases towards achieving
prison and court decongestion. We launched the Plea Bargain
Protocol in 2017 with a view to driving quick and effective
resolution of criminal cases and in turn decongest the prisons and
court dockets.

Congestion of prison is another clog in the wheel
of justice system. How has the
government addressed this menace through its Advisory Council on
Prerogative of Mercy congestion of prison in the
state?

As part of efforts to overcome prison congestion and ensuring
accelerated hearing for minor offences, we facilitated
collaboration between the Ministry of Justice and the Prison
Fellowship to explore the adoption of restorative justice measures
as part of sentencing options for designated relevant offences. The
initiative, which is expected to eliminate the excessive use of
prison sentences for minor offences, is to embark on a pilot scheme
to assess the feasibility of Restorative Justice Options rather
than imprisonment.

The Lagos Criminal Information System also known as Criminal
Case Tracking System was initiated in 2018 by this administration.
It is a crime data register which serves as a repository of
biometric data of persons that have been in contact with the
Criminal Justice System. Till date, more than 8,000 have been
captured in the LCIS database in the Prison, Police and within the
Criminal Justice Administration Sector and this include their
personal, physical and bio-metric details.

Working towards building a ‘citizen-centric’ criminal justice
system for the purpose of ensuring efficient and effective justice
delivery, we published and distributed the sentencing guidelines to
ensure uniformity of punishments imposed on convicts by all the
judges and magistrates handling criminal cases in the state.

In bringing into effect major policy thrusts of the state
government to the people of Lagos State, 14 Bills were passed into
law while 12 are currently undergoing drafting process under my
watch as Attorney-General.

All I have been doing is trying to summarise some of the
interventions and achievements of the administration of His
Excellency, the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode in
the justice sector. The summary is by no means exhaustive and we
shall continue to engage with stakeholders to bring the public to
speed with the rate of development in this sector.

Culled from NewTelegraph

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