The Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice (HAGF) Lateef Fagbemi SAN, has advocated for the adoption of technology in enhancing justice delivery in the country. He emphasized that with the growing legal demands and societal pressures, the Federal Ministry of Justice must adopt innovative strategies to keep the wheels of justice continuously in motion, with strategies to align with the Renewed Hope Agenda of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR.
The Minister stated this in his remarks at the ongoing 2025 Ministry-wide Retreat for top management staff and the Ministry’s Electronic Contents Management (ECM) Champions, with the theme: Positioning for Digital Transformation, holding from 20th – 24th August, 2025 at Four Points by Sheraton, Ikot-Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State. He also stated that the purpose of the retreat was to reflect, realign, and synergize the collective goal of enhancing the administration of justice in Nigeria, with particular emphasis on leveraging technological tools to strengthen justice processes and improve service delivery.
Fagbemi further emphasized that “we live in a technologically driven global village, characterized by complex challenges, heightened public expectations, and evolving threats. This retreat must therefore serve as a strategic platform for evaluating our institutional position, defining our direction, and mapping out the steps required to achieve our objectives. Experience has shown that adoption of ICT significantly unlocks transformative potential for sustainable development in Nigeria”.
“As you are well aware, the justice sector is one of the catalysts for national development. There can be no sustainable growth without access to justice, respect for the rule of law, and a strengthened justice system. The criminal justice sector, in particular, faces daunting challenges: inadequate access to justice, overcrowded correctional facilities, delays in trials, and other systemic inefficiencies. These issues require urgent and technology-driven solutions”. The HAGF stated further.
The Honourable Minister also used the opportunity to assure participants of his personal commitment to the welfare and professional growth of all staff of the Federal Ministry of Justice, maintaining that beyond the institutional reforms being pursued, he recognized that the staff remained the greatest asset. Accordingly, he promised that deliberate measures would be taken to continuously improve the work environment, provide the necessary tools and resources to enhance efficiency, and promote a healthy work-life balance.
He therefore “charge all Departments, Units, and Directorates to align their priorities with the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan 2021–2025 (FCSSIP25), the National Policy on Justice, and the Renewed Hope Agenda. These frameworks all underscore the centrality of technology in service delivery. Our task must go beyond compliance; it must embody proactive leadership in implementation, characterized by digital transformation, agile governance, strategic foresight, and data-driven decision-making”.
While declaring the retreat open, the executive Governor of Akwa Ibom state, His Excellency Pastor Umo Eno, expressed optimism and confidence that the exercise will develop strategies and evolve policies that will strengthen justice delivery processes in Nigeria. He said the state was proud to host the Federal Ministry of Justice for the retreat, assuring of the readiness of his government to support them for successful deliberations.
The governor also stated that e-governance had since been adopted in Akwa Ibom, as seen in the creation of the Ministry of Science and Digital Economy, the use of employment portal for recruitment and procurement portal for contracts bidding, a move which he noted, had reduced cost, promote transparency, fairness and accountability. Beyond that, the Governor asserted that adopting digital technologies had brought about seamless processes in governance and commended the Federal Ministry of Justice for the bold move towards adopting technological reforms in its operations.
In her welcome remarks, the Solicitor General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary (SGF/PS) Mrs. Beatrice Jeddy-Agba OON, mni highlighted that the Retreat represented so much more than just a management meeting. She described it as a purposeful platform for strategic dialogue, practical learning, and collective ownership of the Ministry’s reform priorities.
“As we transition into the final phase of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan (FCSSIP 2021–2025) and implement the revised National Policy on Justice, we must re-imagine how we lead, collaborate, and deliver public service. The pace of global change demands that we embrace digital tools and adaptive leadership. The Retreat is specifically designed to deepen institutional capacity in areas such as Electronic Content Management (ECM), digital case management and integration of Artificial Intelligence within legal workflows”. The SGF/PS added.
She opined that the Ministry would apply the approach adopted by Singapore and United Arab Emirate to help frame reforms around the real needs of justice users and design solutions that are human-centred, iterative, and scalable. She informed participants that the experience of Singapore and the United Arab Emirate anchored digital reforms on leadership commitment, citizen needs, and data-informed decisions. She stated their journey towards paperless government was not powered by excess resources, but by clarity of purpose, coherence in execution, and a culture of accountability.
Jedy-Agba expressed her delight with the topics lined up for the Retreat which were about rethinking workflows, transforming mindsets, and aligning performance systems with national goals. She insisted that the deliberate inclusion of ECM Champions, younger officers, and strategic partners in the retreat was part of the management’s resolve to ensure broad-based institutional learning and sustainability.
The Director of Planning, Research and Statistics in the Ministry Mrs. Victoria Ojogbane in her opening remarks, reminded the participants that digital transformation was not about technology alone but also about transforming relationships with the people the Ministry serves and empowering them with better, faster, more accessible justice services. Concluding, she said that the future being envisioned would not create itself, maintaining that it required leadership, commitment, and collective action.
In attendance were members of the Akwa Ibom State Executive Council, present and former legislators, facilitators, representatives of International IDEA and other development partners.
Signed
Aderemi Ajibola ADELABU
For: Director (Information and Public Relations)
21st August, 2025
