Wednesday, August 6, 2025 - The Nigerian Bar Association has accused the Nigeria Police Force of gross constitutional overreach for investigating the Attorney General of Anambra State over the discontinuation of a criminal matter.
In a statement signed by NBA President, Afam Osigwe, SAN, on
Wednesday, the Association described the action as a dangerous precedent that
threatens the independence of the office of the Attorney General and undermines
the rule of law.
According to the statement, the Police, through the
Inspector General’s Monitoring Unit, invited, detained, and later released on
bail, the Director of Public Prosecution and other law officers for executing a
nolle prosequi, a constitutional power that allows the Attorney General to
discontinue criminal proceedings, an action Osigwe described as “another new
low” for the NPF.
“In another new low and affront to the Constitution of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria as well as the legal profession, the Nigeria Police
Force has purported to have the power to investigate the exercise of the power
of the Attorney General of Anambra to take over, continue, and/or withdraw
criminal proceedings before the courts of the State.
“It is shocking and indeed provocative that the IGP
Monitoring Unit of the Nigeria Police invited and released on bail the Director
of Public Prosecution and some other law officers in the Ministry of Justice
for exercising the power of the State Attorney General to enter a nolle
prosequi in respect of a criminal matter.
“We will be failing in our duty if we shut our eyes to this
unsavoury development, as we are committed to ensuring that all forms of
executive recklessness and impunity are stopped by our law enforcement
agencies,” the statement read.
The Association warned that allowing the police’s actions to
stand would embolden law enforcement agencies to encroach further into
constitutionally protected domains.
The NBA questioned the legal basis for subjecting the
Attorney General’s decisions to police interrogation, pointing out that such
powers are not even open to judicial review.
“The Police need not be educated or reminded that they
cannot question the Attorney General’s decision to exercise the power of nolle
prosequi. This power is not even subject to judicial review or questioning by
other authorities, including the Police.
“This prerogative power of the Attorney General is spelt out
in Section 211 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The NBA
will not, therefore, sit idly by while the Police overreach themselves by
brazenly assaulting the Constitution in this manner,” the NBA President stated.
Beyond the legal breach, Osigwe also expressed concern about
the broader implications for democracy and justice delivery, arguing that if
police officers could summon and interrogate an Attorney General for legal
decisions, nothing stops them from one day attempting to investigate judges for
their rulings.
“We fear that if this is allowed to happen, the Police may
one day purport to have the power to investigate a judicial officer for
delivering judgments.
“The office of the Attorney General will never be cowed. No
amount of invitation, purported investigation, and/or intimidation will deter
the holder of the office and the officers in his/her Ministry from discharging
his/her constitutional duties,” the statement warned.
The NBA described the invitations extended to the Anambra
law officers as a “brazen assault” and a misuse of the IGP’s powers,
particularly as the investigation was initiated in Abuja, hundreds of
kilometres away from the alleged incident.
The Association criticised the trend of routing every
sensitive case through the IGP’s office, rather than letting divisional or
state commands handle them, noting that this approach undermines the
credibility of local policing and adds financial and psychological burdens on
those targeted.
The NBA President, therefore, demanded an immediate end to
the investigation and a formal apology from the Police to the Attorney General
and the affected law officers, tasking the Association’s National Litigation
Committee to initiate all necessary legal actions.
“The Nigerian Bar Association calls on the Inspector General
of Police to call off this investigation, as this action is clearly in breach
of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 [as amended], and
portends a grave danger to our democracy.
“The Bar must also take this as a wake-up call to provide
adequate protection of lawyers from job hazards and abuses by insisting on
prosecution and discipline of errant officers, naming and shaming affected
officers, etc.
“If the invitation and investigation is not called off
immediately, the NBA National Litigation Committee, led by Ama Etuwewe, SAN, is
hereby directed to provide legal services to these lawyers and also immediately
consider taking all legal actions necessary to protect them from the abuse of
their fundamental human rights and the subversion of the prerogative powers of
an Attorney General to take over, continue, and/or discontinue a case,” the
statement concluded.
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