AGF mistaken, Lagos councils enjoying full autonomy – Sanwo-Olu
Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos, has said that the attorney-general and minister of justice Lateef Fagbemi, is mistaken to have lumped the state with its peers who failed to grant full autonomy to local government councils. Fagbemi had sued the 36 states of the federation over their refusal to comply with the autonomy law.
“The Attorney General should have done his due diligence to identify which states are not in compliance,” Sanwo-Olu said the Justice Reform Summit, organised by Lagos State Judiciary.
The governor stated that Lagos state had granted full autonomy to councils operating in the state over a decade past. He expressed his support for the AGF’s action.
Speaking on the summit, Governor Sanwo-Olu said that Lagos judiciary was “a beacon in protecting the rule of law and setting good examples for other jurisdictions in dispensation of justice.”
He said: “Just like Lagos, Singapore has no resources. Singapore is what it is today because of Ease of Doing Business. It takes less than 30 minutes to register a business in Singapore, which makes it to surpass many countries in Ease of Doing Business. Singapore has one of the best judiciary system in the world; they have quick turnaround time in mediation and dispute resolution,” he said.
At the event was Justice Iyabode Yerima of the Supreme Court, representing Chief Justice of Nigeria Kayode Ariwoola. Also, Mr. Fernandez Marcos-Obiene stood in for AGF Fagbemi.
In his remarks, Chief Justice of Lagos, Justice Kazeem Alogba, said that ”no society thrives without robust justice system.”
“When you have judges who are incompetent and corrupt in the system, the society will suffer for it,” he said.
