Relocation of Kwara State Ministry of Justice: Will Gov AbdulRazaq break jinx? 

…as NBA seeks cabinet appointment for members

By Kayode Adeoti

For many decades, the Kwara State Ministry of Justice has remained in the Governor’s office, a development many legal practitioners consider unbefitting.
Many administrations have come and gone, but failed to see the need for the relocation of the official Bar.
However, different account has trailed the actual time the Ministry of Justice was moved to the Governor’s office but, it’s established that it’s one of the oldest ministries in Kwara State.
It was gathered that the Ministry was established following the creation of the state in 1967 during the reign of the first Ministry Governor of Kwara State, late David Bamigboye.
An account holds that the official bar was formerly at the State Secretariat but relocated to the Governor’s office when it was built by the first state civilian governor, Adamu Attah who held sway between 1979 to 1983, during the second republic.
It was gathered that concerted efforts by some Attorney Generals who have served the state in the past to ensure that state government built permanent site for the Ministry of Justice yielded no result.
The arguments by legal practitioners in the state, is that Ministry of Justice deserves a conducive secluded complex with good facilities.
During the valedictory Service held in honour of the immediate past Attorney General, Kamaldeen Ajibade SAN, he lamented how his effort to relocate the Ministry to its permanent site hit the rock following paucity of fund that affected many of the former governor Abdulfatah Ahmed’s projects.
Ajibade added that every year, the proposal for better facility for the Ministry came into the budget but government was incapacitated to execute it due to the drastic drop in the federal allocations to the state.
He said, “I made another proposal which was to take Ministry of Justice out of Governor’s Office, it was approved and it came into the budget every year but because of paucity of fund, we could not achieve it,”
He therefore urged staff of the Ministry not allow the new government use the site allocated for the Ministry for another purpose, saying they should be concerned about the future of the sector.
In his reaction, the Permanent Secretary/Solicitor-General of the Ministry, Barr. Funsho Lawal, stated that it’s in the pipeline to approach Governor Abdulrahman for the construction of a befiting complex for the official Bar.
She said, “It’s in our plan to discuss it with the new regime whenever we have cause to meet, though, we cannot meet the governor over that now because he’s still trying to study the situations on ground, once he sends for us or whenever we have cause to chat, it’s going to be part of our demands.”
In the same vein, the Nigerian Bar Association [NBA], Ilorin, has appealed to  the new government for the inclusion of its members in the new cabinet.
The branch Chairman, Muhammed Ayoola Idowu Akande, disclosed this in a press statement released shortly after the swearing-in ceremony of Governor Abdulrahman.
Akande further urged the government to as a matter of urgency, see to what he described as debilitating infrastructural deficits in the state judiciary and Ministry of Justice.
He added that the backlog of judicial officers’ salaries in the state should be given premium attention  in order to ensure smooth dispensation of justice.
The statement read in parts, “As His Excellency’s new slogan (Iṣẹyà) implies, we urge the state Government to urgently redress the debilitating infrastructural deficits in the Judiciary and Ministry of Justice.
“These include, but are not limited to: inadequate court rooms, inadequate office accommodation in the Ministry of Justice, and the decrepit state of the existing court rooms.
“We also pray the Governor to continue with the monthly instalment payment of the backlog of allowances of Magistrates, Area Judges and State Counsel.
“The Ilorin Bar passionately urge the Governor to appoint more lawyers from Ilorin Branch into his cabinet and other political offices.
“Finally, we implore His Excellency to make the rule of law the solid foundation upon which his administration shall be built. It goes without saying that the Ilorin Bar pledges its support and goodwill to the success of this administration.