The nation’s Body of Attorneys General will meet today (Thursday 28th July) to deliberate on the National Policy on Prosecution in the country, just as the stakeholders meeting on the implementation of the outcome of the recently concluded London Summit on Anti-Corruption and the Open Government Partnership are expected to be hosted simultaneously by the Federal Ministry of Justice in Abuja.
Making this public is Comrade Salihu Othman Isah, the Special Adviser to the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN in a press statement made available to newsmen Wednesday in Abuja.
Isah disclosed that the Body of Attorneys General meeting is expected to consider and adopt the draft National Policy on Prosecution, Code of Conduct ad Guidelines for Prosecutors.
According to the AGF’s media aide, “The policy documents have been considered and approved for submission to the Body of Attorneys General by the Solicitors General and Permanent Secretaries Forum at their meeting held on the 15th October, 2015.
“The National Policy on Prosecution is intended for all officials and agencies involved in prosecution of crime management, evidence gathering and investigation.
“It identifies and articulates best practices, capacity improvement and incentives to enhance the productivity of prosecutors. It also addresses the needs and expectations of prosecutors in the Ministries of Justice, specialized prosecuting agencies and private legal practitioners occasionally involved in prosecution”, the statement revealed.
Similarly, the two-day stakeholders meeting on the implementation of the outcome of the London Anti-Corruption Summit and the Open Government Partnership will begin this morning (Thursday 28th July) in Abuja.
The meeting is expected to articulate the nation’s progress so far since President Muhammadu Buhari presented the Country Statement on actions that would be implemented by the government of Nigeria on anti-corruption reform.
“Subsequent to this, Nigeria also submitted a letter of intent to join the Open Government
Partnership (OGP) to the OGP Secretariat through the Office of thee Attorney General of the Federation.
The Open Government Partnership (OGP) is an international multi-stakeholder initiative focused on improving government’s transparency, accountability and responsiveness to citizens.
‘’The OGP provides a policymaking platform that brings together government and civil society champions of reform to make governments more effective and credible through greater openness.”
Isah explained that, it is the Buhari administration’s position that commitment to the promotion of Open Government in Nigeria would resonate strongly with the message of ‘change’ that the new government represents.