The Attorney General of the Federation AGF and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi has asserted that the Justice Sector of the country would be transformed to serve as key catalyst for economic growth, investments drive, and revenue generation under the present dispensation.
In addition, the Chief Law Officer of the Federation revealed that the sector would render non-kinetic support to the security and defence architecture of the country.
Speaking on Thursday in Abuja at a retreat organized for officials of the Federal Ministry of Justice and its agencies, Fagbemi a Senior Advocate of Nigeria SAN, challenged the officials to be prepared to break from routine official engagements to providing a platform to achieve their mandates.
He sought the buy-in of staff of the ministry as well as agencies and parastatals under him, towards achieving the Performance agreement signed between ministers and President Bola Tinubu.
Fagbemi, who told the staff that their performance as well as successes in assigned tasks go a long way in determining his in success, also reminded them of the key role the ministry plays in the attainment of the goals and objectives of other sectors in the political/ socioeconomic environment of the country.
“You are all aware that following a Presidential Retreat on November 3, 2023, the President signed a Performance Bond with Cabinet Ministers and Permanent Secretaries, which will serve as a scorecard for Ministries.
“The Solicitor General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary and myself, signed a Performance Contract with the President, promising to ensure the performance of the Ministerial Deliverables assigned to the Ministry.
“The Sector Plan contain fifteen (15) Ministerial Deliverables; 49 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs); Base lines and Targets. You may wish to note that this Performance Bond comes with initiatives, deliverables, Key Performance Indicators, timelines and targets, which this sector must unconditionally achieve.
“One of the Key Performance Indicators of this meeting is to cascade the signed bond to Ministry’s Management and Chief Executive Officers of the Agencies. Therefore, it is imperative that we all come together to critically understand this performance bond and the variables and be well apprised on what is expected of us to achieve as a Ministry or Agency”, Fagbemi said.
Meanwhile, the AGF disclosed that out of the eight areas of “Priorities” and “Focus” of the Renewed Hope Agenda, the Federal Ministry of Justice by virtue of its mandate speaks to four which are; Priority 3 (Economic growth and Job Creation), Priority 5 (Inclusivity; Drawing on all Skills Base); Priority 6 (Security); Priority 7 (Fairness and Rule of Law); and Priority 8 (Anti-Corruption Stance).
He also added that the Ministry also speaks to the eighth (8th) Focus Area of Government, which is Improved Governance for effective Service Delivery.
While stressing that “the Justice sector is pivotal to the attainment of the objectives of other sectors, as well as attaining the universal role of the law as a veritable enabler for development”, Fagbemi harped on the need to urgently “reposition the Justice sector for optimal performance and enhanced productivity, in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda”.
He noted that as part of efforts to facilitate delivery of their mandates, the federal government is committed to building a Civil Service that is focused on Improved Staff Competences and skills; Improved Productivity and Human Resource Administration; Result based performance and meritocratic environment; and a value driven and digitally transformed Civil Service.
“In furtherance of the President’s commitment to Performance measurement and reporting therefore, it is essential that we put in our best in ensuring the Justice Sector Plan and the mandates of our various Agencies/ Parastatals are performed to the optimum.
“On our part, the Ministry has encapsulated the Ministerial Deliverables as key priorities of the Goals in its Strategic Plan 2023-2027. This we believe will enhance the implementation of the assigned Sector Plan”, he said.
Some of the areas covered by the Sector Plan include: Measures to achieve speedy dispensation of Justice; Robust engagement with the Judiciary, National Assembly and other Justice Sector Institutions; Successful Prosecution of Terrorism and high-profile Corruption cases; Engagement with relevant MDAs and other Stakeholders on enhanced Salary and allowances for Federal Judicial Officers and Coordination and Collaboration between relevant Organisations under the Proceeds of Crime Act (Recovery and Management) POCA.
The rest are Implementation of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy; Development and deployment of a National Crime Data Base; Review of outdated Laws and Regulations; Access to Justice on Human Rights protection; Compliance with Laws and Policies on public procurement to mitigate Contract failure and reduce FGN Judgment Debts; amongst others.