Abuja – Justice Ishaq Bello, the Chief Judge (CJ) of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has admonished the Nigerian Law Reform Commission to be responsive to its statutory duties in the promulgation of laws.
Bello gave the charge on Tuesday in Abuja at a National Workshop on the “Reform of Public Officers Protection Act (CAP 41) laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004)’’ organised by the commission.
The CJ who was represented by Justice Olasunbo Goodluck, lamented the number of obsolete laws in the country.
“It is quite unfortunate, I have seen a few acts and I lament why the back-holding.
“Why haven’t these been taken care of and by the time I investigated, I discovered that the Nigeria Law Reform has been left out from the entire process.
“If there is anything that should be done to right this wrong, I believe it falls on you (the commission) to look into this.
“It is high time the law reform commission should be more active in the promulgation of laws in Nigeria,’’ he said.
Speaking in same vein, Prof. Deji Adekunle, the Director-General, Nigeria Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, stressed the need for the reform of many obsolete laws in the country.
He said the review of the Public Officers Protection Act by the commission was a welcome development.
Adekunle pointed out that the public officers’ protection act has aided the perpetration of a lot of impunity in the system.
[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”70560″]
Earlier, the Acting Chairman of the commission, Mr Kefas Magaji, said that the workshop was aimed at reforming the Public Officers Protection Act.
Magaji said that the act was one of the statutes of limitation with the objective of limiting the time for suing public officers acting in the execution of their public duties.
He said that one of the fundamental defects of the act was the three months limitation period provided in section 2 (a).
The provision, according to him, stipulates that no action, prosecution or proceeding shall be instituted against any person carrying out public duties unless it is commenced within three months.
Magaji said that the provision has generated a lot of controversy among legal scholars, jurists and even the general public, hence the need for the reform.
He also disclosed that the commission has initiated a reform in the Price Control Act in line with the good governance measure of the federal government. (NAN)
banker of the day - FREE banker tips from experts