Akingbolahan Adeniran, who was Ogun state attorney-general until Monday, said he resigned due to personal reasons and not because of massive corruption in Governor Dapo Abiodun’s government.
His resignation took government officials by surprise as it was initially denied by his colleague, Waheed Odusile, who heads the information ministry.
He issued on Monday a statement to debunk the rumours circulating about his action.
He said he resigned for personal reasons. Adeniran’s letter was dated 8 November.
“I must state that my reasons for resigning are purely personal. I am not aware of any “massive corruption” in the Administration and I am indeed very proud of what we have been able to achieve in the administration of justice over the past two years,” Adeniran said.
“I am not aware of any “massive corruption” in the Administration and I am indeed very proud of what we have been able to achieve in the administration of justice over the past two years, including: Improved accessibility of justice for the average citizen through the Ogun Public Interest Law Partnership which matches indigent clients with pro bono lawyers; Protection of the rights of suspects in detention through regular inspections by duty solicitors engaged under the Police Duty Solicitor Scheme”.
“Use of technology to monitor the plight of pre-trial detainees with the Corrections Information Management System and Justice Clock; Gradual introduction of forensics into policing; Introduction of the case management and scheduling system in conjunction with the Ogun State Judiciary; And many other reform initiatives in the justice sector.
“I want to assure His Excellency, the Governor and all my colleagues in the Executive Council of the State of my continued support. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with such an amazing group of administrators, technocrats and experts in various fields of endeavour.
“I have learnt a lot from you all and pray that God will continue to use you to improve on the lives of the good people of Ogun State”.
Adeniran before his appointment served as a Team Leader at the United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals.
Before this, he was the pioneer Rule of Law Advisor to the Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Senior Special Assistant to the Governor of Lagos State (Nigeria) on Legal Matters.
He has also worked as an investigator and a trial lawyer at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, The Netherlands.
He co-edited and co-authored the book, International Criminal Investigations: Law and Practice, and has published several international articles and book chapters.
Adeniran had his LLB from University of Lagos and an LLM at Harvard Law School.
