The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has accused the Nigeria Police Force of severe constitutional infringement for investigating the Attorney General of Anambra State over the termination of a criminal case.
On Wednesday, NBA President Afam Osigwe, SAN, issued a statement calling the action a dangerous precedent that jeopardises the independence of the Attorney General’s office 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 carrying out a nolle prosequi, a constitutional power that allows the Attorney General to halt criminal proceedings, which 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 expressed concern that allowing the police’s conduct to stand might encourage law enforcement authorities to advance farther into constitutionally protected areas.
The NBA questioned the legal basis for exposing the Attorney General’s judgements to police interrogation, noting that such powers are not subject to court review.
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“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 expressed concern about the broader implications for democracy and justice delivery, arguing that if police officers can summon and interrogate an Attorney General for legal decisions, there is nothing to prevent them from investigating judges for their rulings in the future.
“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 judgements.
“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 criticised the invites offered to Anambra law officials as a “brazen assault” and a misuse of the IGP’s powers, especially given that the probe was launched in Abuja, hundreds of kilometres distant from the alleged incident.
The Association attacked the practice of sending all sensitive cases through the IGP’s office rather than allowing divisional or state commands to handle them, claiming that this strategy weakens the credibility of local enforcement and places additional financial and psychological costs on individuals targeted.
The NBA President, as a result, ordered an immediate end to the inquiry and a formal apology from the police to the Attorney General and the impacted law officers, directing the Association’s National Litigation Committee to take all necessary legal action.
“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 are 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.
