The National Assembly has passed a bill to separate the office of the Attorney General of the federation from that of the Minister of Justice in order to make the office of the AGF independent and non-partisan.
Prior to now, as provided by law, the Attorney General of the Federation doubles as the Minister of Justice as anyone appointed into the office plays the roles of a chief law officer and a minister.
The legislation seeks the amendment of Section 150 of the 1999 Constitution which provides for the office of the Attorney General of the Federation, who shall be the Chief Law Officer and a Minister of the Federation.
What you should know
- The Legislation is titled: ”A bill for an Act to Establish the Office of the Attorney–General of the Federation and of the State separate from the Office of the Minister of Justice or Commissioners for Justice of the state in order to make the Offices Attorneys–General Independent and Insulated from Partisanship; and for Related Matters.”
- The bill was passed in both chambers at Tuesday’s plenary session. At the senate, while 86 senators voted in favour of the bill, only 6 voted against it.
- The bill sponsored by Mohammed Monguno was first passed by the 7th Assembly had passed the second reading at the house in December 2019.
- Section 9 of the 199 constitution provides that before the National Assembly can pass an Act to amend the constitution after the two-thirds majority of all the members of each chamber has voted in its support, at least 24 state Houses of Assembly must give approval by a simple majority.
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