Mr Lateef Fagbemi, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, has appealed for increased money for the Ministry to ensure enhanced performance in 2024.
Fagbemi stated this on Monday in Abuja, when he evaluated the Ministry’s 2023 budget performance and defended the 2024 budget before the Senate Committee on Judiciary.
In 2023, the ministry has been allocated N3.3 billion for capital expenditure and N4.6 billion for recurring expenditure, according to him.
The AGF stated that with less than 30 days to the end of 2023, the Ministry has only received capital expenditure releases of N617 million and recurrent expenditure releases of N2.734 billion.
This, he claimed, had a significant impact on the Ministry’s performance.
He stated that the ministry was dedicated to achieve a paradigm shift in 2024, adding that the 2024 budget included N5.3 billion for capital investment and N8.8 billion for recurrent expenditure.
The minister asked the committee to support the Ministry because it was critical in driving the present administration’s justice sector plan.
Legal and judicial reforms, according to Fagbemi, are critical priority areas under the President’s eight-point program.
“In order to ensure the security and confidence of the judicial officers coupled with the location of the trial, the Ministry is required to charter aircraft to airlift them.
”The Ministry is also spending considerable resources on provision or upgrading of infrastructural facilities at the various venues to make them fit for purpose,” he said.