Reps Commend, Knock Fagbemi On 2024 Legal Issues

The House Representatives has lauded the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi, for the legal successes the country recorded in 2024.

The House frowned at instances where foreign companies sued the country in Western nations for businesses conducted in the nation.

The Chairman of the House Committee on Justice, Olumide Osoba, stated this on Tuesday while Fagbemi defended the performance of the 2024 budget and projections in the 2025 budget.

Osoba particularly commended the Minister for securing local government autonomy victory from the Supreme Court. He said the ruling would stimulate economic development at the grassroots level.

“In the past year, Nigeria has witnessed significant judicial decisions that reinforce the principles of justice and governance:

“Supreme Court ruling on Local Government Autonomy: On July 11, 2024, the Supreme Court delivered a landmark judgment affirming the financial and administrative autonomy of local governments.

“This ruling declared it unconstitutional for state governors to withhold funds allocated to local governments or to dissolve local government councils arbitrarily. It recognized local governments as the third tier of Nigeria’s governance structure, thereby strengthening grassroots democracy and enhancing service delivery at the local level,” he said.

P&ID Case Success

The member representing Abeokuta North/ Obafemi- Owode/Odeda Federal Constituency further commended the success of the Ministry in securing for Nigeria at P&ID case.

Naija News had reported that Judge Robin Knowles of the Business and Property Court in London ruled in favour of Nigeria and quashed the enforcement of the $11 billion arbitration award sought by P&ID.

He said the victory against P&ID prayers showed the robustness of the country’s legal system.

“Nigeria achieved a significant legal victory in the case against Process and Industrial Developments (P&ID). The court quashed the previous judgment that had imposed a substantial financial liability on the country, thereby safeguarding our national assets and preserving economic stability.

“These judicial outcomes exemplify the robustness of our legal system and underscore the importance of unwavering commitment to justice and the rule of law,” he stated.

The Committee, however, decried foreign investors’ preference to take legal actions against Nigeria in foreign nations. They called for a review of contracts between foreign investors and the country.

“There’s one critical area where we also, as much as possible, stand our ground, and that is in the area of arbitration, especially the laws that govern administration and the seat that governs arbitration.

“You know it is sad to experience a situation or situations in which people come here to take our money and still want the seat of arbitration outside Nigeria and the relevant laws that govern their transactions to be laws in England. So, they have to choose to do business with us, take our money, and also comply with our own laws here.

“And so, we have the Arbitration and Prosecution Act, which was passed into law in 2023. This has significantly impacted our fortunes in this regard,” Osoba added.

We Will Only Engage Professionals In Arbitration

The Minister of Justice, in his reaction, said efforts were on to curb factors that lead to citing seats of arbitrations outside the country.

Fagbemi stated that the challenge facing the nation was that some of the lawyers contracted by governments during drafting agreements lacked the requisite knowledge in some of the areas.

“Some of these commercial transactions are not given to friends or lawyers merely because they are friends. They must be people who have capacity in terms of training and experience, and we have learned our lessons in this regard.

“So, we are trying our best to ensure that those we engage are those with certified advisory, as given to us during the P&ID case. That whatever you want to give cases out, you don’t do it out of patronage; we look at the competence of the counsel involved.

“For instance, the mere fact that you’re a constitutional lawyer in Nigeria does not make you a good commercial lawyer or an arbitrator offshore or even here, so this one we have taken care of,” he said.

He added that efforts were on to collaborate with state governments to ensure their foreign agreements were in line with the country’s rule and process.