Adamawa State stakeholders have urged the Federal Government to improve its funding of the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria, saying adequate funding of the council is a key to attaining success and greatness.
The stakeholders have also appealed to the National Assembly to review the act establishing the council so as to convert it to a full fledge commission.
Currently, the council is a parastatal under the Federal Ministry of Justice and has been encountering huge challeges including poor funding, lack of manpower and operational vehicles to aid in movement of staff among others.
Equally, the stakeholders have hammered on the need to expunge a schedule in order to enlarge the powers of the council to fully represent or cover both criminal and civil cases.
More so, the stakeholders have stressed the need for more synergy and collaboration in the administration of justice in Adamawa state and Nigeria at large, and that the state government through the office of the attorney general should financially support the council.
The stakeholders in a communique issued at a one-day workshop on sensitization of stakeholders on the role and responsibility of Legal Aid Council in the Administration of Justice in Adamawa State organised by the Federal Ministry of Justice and held in Yola on Saturday; however, appreciated the organisers of the event.
The workshop provided opportunity for the participants as they were educated on the effort of the Federal Government in promoting justice through the Legal Aid Council as well as duties and responsibilities in delivering legal aid within their environment.
During the event, the participants presented their inputs aimed at improving government's policies on legal aid council as well as made recommendations for future improvement of the council in general.
The historic event attracted participants including the representatives of the Federal Ministry of Justice, Adamawa State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Commissioner of Police, Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corpse(NSCDC).
Other participants include; representative of the Commandant National Drug Law Enforcement Agency(NDLEA), Controller of Nigeria Correctional Service Adamawa State, Federation of Women Lawyers(FIDA), Human Right Commission, Rule of Law and Anti Corruption Programme British Council, Muslims Council of Nigeria and host of others.
Earlier, speaking while declaring the workshop open, the representative of Federal Ministry of Justice, Hadiza Musa Aliyu, said that the event was organised in order to sensitize the stakeholders on the important services being rendered by the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria.
Hadiza, told the participants that Legal Aid Council has been in existence since 1977, and that the council's key role is to help less privilege get justice by offering free legal services.
She observed that many of the stakeholders as well as other citizens do not know the role of the Legal Aid Council; hence, the workshop so as to sensitize participants on the role of the council to all citizens.
Delivering his paper entitled," Overview of Statutory and Responsibilty of Legal Aid Council in the Administration of Justice" the Zonal Director North East Legal Aid Council of Nigeria, T. U. Lektu esq, stated that the essence of the workshop was to broaden the knowlege of the participants on the council.
Lektu, lamented that many citizens are yet to know about the legal aid council despite many years of establishment, explaining that the council renders free legal services to all citizens irrespective ethno religious, economic, cultural and political differences.
According to him, the relevance of legal aid council in the administration of justice cannot be under estimated in all ramifications, saying that it remains the only dependable tool the down trodden could access justice.
He advocated for the creation of legal aid council offices across 774 LGCs, improvement of staff emolument, welfare and incentives generally, staff capacity building and training, mass sensitization of the general public on the activities and relevance of the council, encouragement of team work among others.
Also, speaking on the stakeholders role within the legal aid council justice delivery system and application procedure for legal aid, the Coordinator Legal Aid Council of Nigeria Adamawa State, Francis Adam Ogbe, said equal opportunity is the centre piece for legal aid.
The Coordinator stressed the need to make the vision of the aid to function, explaining that the council is not supporting the release of criminals but ensuring that justice is done to all.
Francis Adam Ogbe, added that justice is a three(3) -way traffic: justice to the victim, the defendant and to the society, and called on all stakeholders including government, the courts, various law enforcement agencies, the individual members of the community or citizens, and to a large extent, members of the international community to ensure justice to all citizens.
Several stakeholders who spoke during the event made a passionate appeal to the FG through the federal ministry of justice to look into the challenges of council towards addressing them.
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