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 Daily
Independent Online.
* Wednesday, June 30, 2004.
Mr. Attorney-General, where is the law?
“Ignorance
of the law does not afford any excuse for any act or omission which would
otherwise constitute an offence, unless knowledge of the law by offender
is expressly declared to be an element of the offence”. (Section 22 of the Criminal Code, chapter 43)
The Attorney General of the Federation is
the Chief Law Officer of the Federation and by extension, the custodian
of all the laws of the Federation.
This is no doubt a sensitive and enormous position in the
administration of the country.
The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria recognised the
enormity of this position by making a mandatory provision that only a
legal practitioner of at least 10 years standing is qualified to occupy
the position of the Attorney General of the Federation. It is only the office of the
Attorney-General that enjoys such constitutional provision. While one
does not need to be a woman to be qualified to be Minister of Women
Affairs and Youth Development or even a Medical Doctor to be a Minister
of Health, it is only a qualified legal practitioner that shall occupy
the position of Attorney General.
Section 150 (1) is very succinct when it
states thus:
“There shall be an Attorney-General of the
Federation who shall be the Chief Law Officer of the Federation and a
minister of the Government of the Federation.
In our country, we hear or read on the pages of
newspapers about bills and their subsequent passage into Acts by the
National Assembly; these laws are thereafter consigned into the suite
cases of the members of the National Assembly and The Presidency without
the office of the Attorney-General making them available to the citizens.
Take for example, we read about carbotage
law, but how many of us have indeed seen the law? How does one distinguish
Government Policy and Acts of National Assembly. The Government banned importation
of frozen chicken, used fridges, air conditioners and cars of more than
eight years.The question is, is there any legislation to support the ban
or is it just a mere Government Policy.
Since the inception of the present
democratic dispensation, a number of Acts have been enacted by the
National Assembly, yet these Acts are yet to be compiled into a statute
book for easy reference. The masses need to read these legislation to
enable them indeed know the true letters of the legislation. The relevant
enforcement agencies also need to read them to determine their mode of
execution and jurisdiction.
The last time we had a compilation of
Nigerian laws into a statute book called Laws of Federation 1990
was in 1990, that is, 14 years ago.
We had had the administrations of General I.B. Babagida, then Abacha, Abdulsalami Abubakar and
presently Olusegun Obasanjo. The military regimes of that era promulgated
Decrees some of which have been incorporated into our laws as Acts of
National Assembly while the National Assembly has also passed many Acts
since the inception of the democratic process. One cannot easily lay
hands on these laws and there is no statute book to refer to. Even the 1990 Laws of
Federation are out of stock.
What is implied is that most of our legal practitioners of about
14 years or less at the Bar do not have the laws of the Federation in
their chambers yet a 10-year post-call is constitutionally qualified to
be the chief law officer of the federation and even a High Court Judge.
This is indeed absurd.
The late Professor Olisa Chukura (SAN)
used to tell us at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka: “I am here to
teach you where to find the law.
The law is in the book”.
He expatiated by stating that the law is in the book, that is why
they, lawyers, go to court with books and refer the judge to the relevant
books. I would quickly
clarify that the learned Senior Advocate of Nigeria meant not only the
statute book but also case law.
If the law is in the book, Mr. Attorney-General, please where is
the statute book that compiles all the Laws of Federation from
1991-2004? Again, where are
the previous laws of the Federation from 1960 - 1990?
Finally, in a country where ignorance of
the law is not an excuse, justice of the matter expects that availability
of the laws should be a condition precedent. The Attorney-General of the Federation should ensure
re-print of the Laws of Federation 1990 or in the alternative
publication of another edition of the Laws of Federation from 1960
- 2004 at subsidised rates to make the laws available to the
citizens. It is only when
that is done that the clich� “ignorance of the law is not an excuse will
be justifiable.”
Pat Anyadubalu Esq.,
Lagos.
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