Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, requested the Legislative and the Judiciary to resist efforts to obstruct the government.

He went on to say that attempts by private citizens to obstruct government procurement processes through flimsy injunctions should be rejected by the legal system.

While delivering a paper titled, “Strengthening the Synergy between the Executive, Legislature, and Judiciary under the Rule of Law – Executive Perspective,” at the hybrid refresher course for judges and Khadis in Abuja.

This was revealed in a statement released on Tuesday by Kamarudeen Ogundele, Special Advisor to the President on Communication and Publicity in the Office of the AGF & Minister of Justice.

The statement quoted Fagbemi as saying, “It is my firm submission that the courts must continue to reject any attempt to be manipulated or employed by any individual or entity for personal benefit.

“In this regard, situations where private persons seeking to scuttle the government’s procurement procedures, as provided in the procurement laws or other governmental processes, by approaching the courts to acquire spurious injunctions, should be rejected by the courts.

“On the other hand, the judiciary has the responsibility to pronounce on government processes or action(s) that are not in line with the law or in the interest of the advancement of society, thereby serving as a tool for socio-economic advancement.”

The AGF emphasized that the three branches of government must keep on their designated roles in order to prevent arbitrariness or excesses by any of the arms. The AGF stated that the concept of separation of powers is a sacred constitutional principle of Nigeria’s democratic rule of law.

The honourable minster for Justice called on the three arms of government to embrace synergy amongst themselves for the greater good of the nation.

“The need for synergy among the three arms of government cannot be over-emphasised. All the arms of government must see themselves as partners in progress. Without synergy and cooperation, the vision of our constitutional democracy is hardly achievable.

“Each arm must do all that is lawful to enhance the operation of government and no act must be done to undermine the vision of government and Nigeria as a democratic entity.

“The constitutional powers of the three arms of government overlap in some cases and each of them connects with the others at various points,” Fagbemi said.

“An efficient court system is a cornerstone of the rule of law,” he noted, emphasizing the need for the judiciary to maintain its independence.

“Where the judiciary falters, that is a clear invitation to anarchy. This must never happened.

“In the same vein, the legislature must, at all times, work in such a way to help enhance the performance of the executive arm.

“This is so because virtually all the policies to be implemented by the executive in a democratic setting emanate from laws passed and/or to be passed by the legislature,” Fagbemi said.