Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, has said that the ongoing justice sector reform will focus on faster citizens’ access to justice and improving the efficiency of the justice system.
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He made this known on Friday at the Conference of the Network of Justice Sector Reform Teams held in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital.
Fagbemi explained that the Network of Justice Sector Reform Teams was established by the Ministry of Justice as part of the Tinubu administration’s quest for a more collaborative, efficient, and effective implementation of justice norms and the prioritisation of the rule of law in the country.
“The Teams are designed as the ‘think tanks’ and the ‘engine rooms’ of reform at the sub-national level, and your collaborative efforts remain indispensable to enhancing the administration of justice.
“The theme chosen for this engagement ‘Interoperability between Access to Justice and the Ease of Doing Business’ is both timely and critical.”
Fagbemi noted that the theme aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda, which is anchored on attracting investment, creating jobs, and fostering sustainable economic growth.
He emphasised that no meaningful economic progress can be achieved without a robust, predictable, and efficient justice system.
“The ‘Ease of Doing Business’ is not merely about enhancing bureaucratic efficiency; it is fundamentally a critical factor in service delivery and justice administration.
“It includes institutional assurances which we give to a small business owner in Lafia, a tech entrepreneur in Lagos, and an international investor in London, that their rights will be protected, their contracts enforced, and their disputes resolved fairly and expeditiously.”
The Minister of Justice lamented that for too long the justice system has been perceived as slow, complex, and inaccessible to the average citizen and business.
“For a commercial dispute to be resolved efficiently, the entire justice ecosystem must work in harmony. This includes pre-action collaboration and the promotion of robust Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms to ensure that not every dispute ends up in our already overburdened courts.”
Concluding, Fagbemi said: “We must ensure that justice is not a luxury reserved for the wealthy or the connected. It must be a public good, available to all, including the poor, the vulnerable, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) who are the lifeblood of our economy.
“We must ensure that justice is not only done but is seen to be done in good time. ‘Justice delayed is justice denied’ is not just a legal maxim; it is a profound economic truth.”
In his opening remarks, Governor Abdullahi Sule commended the Ministry of Justice for choosing Nasarawa State to host the Justice Sector Reform Conference.
According to Sule, the theme — “Interoperability between Access to Justice and the Ease of Doing Business” — aligns strongly with his administration’s governance philosophy.
He stated that his primary mandate is to create a safe, secure, and prosperous environment for citizens.
“We are aggressively seeking private sector investment to harness our vast mineral and agricultural potential, create jobs, and build sustainable infrastructure.
“However, we know that investors are not just looking for resources; they are looking for certainty. They want a jurisdiction where the rule of law is a lived reality. They want to know that commercial agreements will be respected, that regulatory frameworks are stable, and that if a dispute arises, they will have access to a fair, impartial, and efficient justice system.
“This is where your work becomes the bedrock of our economic agenda. The ‘Ease of Doing Business’ is directly proportional to ‘Access to Justice’.”
Sule added that a slow, analog, and unpredictable justice system is as much a barrier to investment as poor roads or an unstable power supply.
“The ‘interoperability’ you are discussing today the seamless collaboration between our courts, ministries of justice, law enforcement, and other institutions is not just an administrative goal. It is an economic imperative.
“It is a critical component of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda, which we are fully committed to implementing in Nasarawa.”
The governor noted that his administration has taken steps to support justice reform, including strengthening the judiciary to enhance its capacity and autonomy.
He further pledged to continue leveraging technology to improve service delivery and expressed willingness to adopt practical solutions presented at the conference.
“Let us move from diagnostics to implementation. How can we leverage technology to fast-track commercial disputes? How can we strengthen Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) to decongest our courts? What best practices can we share across states to ensure that a business in Nasarawa enjoys the same level of judicial certainty as one in Lagos or Kano?”
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