The Attorney General of Lagos State also known as Lagos State Commissioner for Justice is the head of the Lagos State Ministry of Justice. The officer's duty is to ensure that "the laws of the state are uniformly and adequately enforced". The

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

carries out the responsibilities of the office through the

Ministry of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

. The Attorney General is appointed to a four-years term, with a maximum of two terms, by the

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

subject to the approval of the State House of Assembly. The incumbent Attorney General is Lawal Pedro appointed on 13 September 2023.

Statutory duties

By Section 195 of the 1999

Constitution of Nigeria A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

, “There shall be an Attorney-General for each State who shall be the Chief Law Officer of the State and a Commissioner for Justice of the government of that State pursuant to the above provision”. Also the Attorney General shall be the Head the Ministry of Justice, charged with the responsibility to provide a legal services and support for local law enforcement in the state and acts as the chief counsel in state litigation. In addition, the Attorney General Oversees law enforcement agencies.

History

The office was established in 1968, just a year after

Lagos State Lagos State (, ) is a States of Nigeria, state in South West, Nigeria. Of the 36 States of Nigeria, Nigerian states, Lagos is the second List of Nigerian states by population, most populous state but the List of Nigerian states by area, smallest ...

was founded. Since the establishment of the office, sixteen officials had served in that capacity including Professor Yemi Osinbajo, a former vice president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

List of attorneys general

Source
Lagos State Ministry of Justice

References

{{Lagos State Judiciary of Lagos State Lagos State