Legal Nigeria recently investigated a leaked article. The author of the article expressed concern regarding the well-being of workers at the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, and the findings were alarming. While some staff from the Ministry of Justice validated the account, underscoring the horrible treatment they have had under the current leadership, others abstained from commenting owing to the oath of secrecy they claimed to have sworn. We reached out to the Secretary of the Attorney General of Lagos State in order to acquire a more balanced picture, but he declined to comment on the said concerns.
Find below the said article:
*The conundrum of a Lagos State’ Counsel: a “Mayday” signal.*
It may have been years since the founding of the Justice department of the Lagos State government- The Lagos State Ministry of Justice, employees of that body, State counsel, administrative and other support staff have never had it so bad as in the last 4years when both heads (the Attorney-General and the Solicitor General/Permanent Secretary) assumed office.
The HAG as popularly known has distastefully led the Ministry with such impertinence to all staff while the Chief accounting officer either haplessly looked away or is complicit particularly in matters of staff welfare. In the past 2 to 3 years, the death rate of staff at the Ministry of Justice is nothing but alarming most of which results from work related stress. The poor take home pay of these law officers in comparison with their work load when placed side by side with their counterparts in other states is both painful and pitiful. Sadly, work place motivation is totally lacking as unavailability of work tools has become the order in that Ministry. Counsel have had to provide their own tools ranging particularly from paper to other essentials just to ensure a continuous work flow. These monies expended by counsel are either forgone or paid back very late.
The State Counsel we learnt came together to clamor for the betterment of their status by advocating for the harmonization of their salaries and while the immediate past administration led by Adeniji Kazeem SAN and Funlola Odunlami as SGPS did their best and gave their all towards the actualization of that course, these new leaders never gave priority to what mattered most to the State Counsel and as such afforded the powers that be the chance to vary the terms of that approved proposal.
State Counsel have complained about unpaid allowances ranging from litigation allowance (about 6 months is presently owed), annual robe allowance (paid recently only for year 2021 while 2022 and 2023 are still outstanding). Reports also has it that trainings, workshops and seminars which are continuously required to keep counsel abreast and on top of their profession are scarcely provided and when they are, participants often use personal funds to ensure attendance which largely remain unpaid by the authorities.
Perhaps, the event which may be unforgivable by these Counsel is the non payment of their allowances for attending the last Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association, 2022 to which the Lagos State Government played host. Report has it that the Governor has given necessary approvals for the smooth hosting of the event while about 60 State Counsel had been nominated to attend the conference which held at the Eko Atlantic City in Victoria Island, Lagos.
We learnt that after all deductions had been made, a balance of about 35million Naira was remaining from the Total approved and released sum out of which participating State counsel and other support staff including drivers, office assistants and clerks who attended the weeklong Conference were expected to be paid. However, the Honorable AG insisted that the balance belongs to him and he will not pay a dime of it as allowance for the AGC. We learnt also that the total money required to settle the AGC allowance for all concerned is less than 5 million Naira and the allowances remain unpaid till date. The PS who we learnt was incidentally away on leave while these events unfolded, has taken no step to facilitate her workers’ payment upon her return but has complicity looked away and kept mum on the matter.
The current system of leadership in the MoJ is bankrupted with maladministration and this has given some discoloration to the fair or passable achievements of BOS (Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwoolu) government.
This is a call for all stakeholders and well meaning persons around Lagos State to arise and bring this misgovernance and misrule to an end while the staff of the Ministry anticipates a new set of people-oriented leaders after the general elections have been concluded.
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