AGF, other ministers showcase achievements

More ministers have showcased their achievements in commemoration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s one year in office.  The ministers of Justice, Police and Health, during the sectoral ministerial briefing to update Nigerians on Friday in Abuja, reeled out their achievements.

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), disclosed that the federal government secured 250 convictions from the prosecution of terrorism and criminal offices in various courts of law in the country in one year.

According to the AGF, the ministries got 160 criminal convictions, 87 terrorism convictions and three novel terrorism cases, which resulted in the radicalisation of children and violence against women. 

Fagbemi informed that besides the upturning of the $11 billion arbitral award against Nigeria that would have wiped out the country’s external reserve, the country collaborated with a team of lawyers to obtain an interim cost of £20 million in favour of Nigeria.

He said Nigeria had in February 2024 entered into an asset-sharing agreement with the Bailiwick of Jersey for the return of £2,125,944 proceeds of corruption, adding that the funds would be used for the Abuja-Kano road project.

Fagbemi hinted that the Ministry of Justice, in conjunction with relevant security and law enforcement agencies, have developed a framework for joint investigation and collaboration geared towards the engagement of prosecution-guided investigation in various criminal cases to address the challenges to successful prosecutions.

“There is also enhanced interagency synergy for prosecution of maritime cases, electricity offences, collaboration with public and private sector stakeholders on cyber-security protection and cybercrime prosecution,” the AGF said.

Answering questions from newsmen on the continued detention of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, Fagbemi said the case was different from those of the leader of #RevolutionNow Movement, Omoyele Sowore and Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Igboho, adding that it can only be resolved by the court.

Also, the Minister of Police Affairs, Ibrahim Gaidam, listed the introduction of the annual Nigerian Police award as a notable part of his achievements in his ministry, saying the initiative was to encourage police officers to maintain the highest level of professionalism and service.

He also said he had achieved expansion of crime prevention programmes to reduce violent and property crimes through enhanced inter-agency cooperation and coordination to streamline law enforcement operations.

Gaidam, a former governor of Yobe State, giving more insights into how far his ministry has gone to deliver on the mandate of the Renewed Hope agenda of the president, said he had strengthened collaboration with INTERPOL to combat transnational crimes.

He also listed the launch of the Nigeria Police Veterans Foundation to assist retired police officers as part of his achievements, while insisting that the ministry would continue to deliver on its mandate.

The minister said: “Other notable achievements include implementation of the young and secure project, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Youth Development, commencement of upgrading and modernising the curriculum in all police training institutions nationwide to ensure relevance, effectiveness, and adherence to best practices and strengthening of the police public complaints committee to address instances of police misconduct and brutality against the public.

Meanwhile, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, said the ministry was working towards expanding and upgrading 17,000 primary health care (PHC) centres in the country over the next three years.

Prof Pate said: “The expansion is to refurbish these centres, equip them, making them fully functional to deliver essential services, such as immunisation, reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health services, treatment of non-communicable diseases and to facilitate referrals to secondary facilities.”

He said N260 billion was already currently available at the state level to complement the efforts of the federal government in the revitalisation of primary health care, through IDA financing and the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF).

Prof. Pate said federal  hospitals  had successfully  executed  201  specific  infrastructure  projects on hospital  equipment  and  infrastructure,   in  the last   one  year, adding that, “179 specific pieces of important medical equipment were procured by the federal government and distributed across the six geopolitical zones. In 33 of our federal tertiary hospitals, approximately 4.5 million Nigerians accessed outpatient health services, and 1.6 million had inpatient admissions.”

The minister said President Tinubu, in October approved the Presidential Initiative to Unlock the Health Care Value Chain.  He said a draft executive order had been produced and finalised, and once signed by the president, would reduce barriers related to the import of raw materials and equipment for pharmaceuticals and  medical devices.

Pate said the president had also approved additional resources for the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) to have contingent financing available, allowing for prompt action during health crises. 

While saying that the ministry oversees 30 teaching hospitals, 22 federal medical centres and 21 specialty hospitals, along with five core agencies,  16 regulatory bodies, 10 departments and three special units, he added that the ministry had begun to strengthen the regulatory framework within the sector. 

He said that over five million Nigerian children had been vaccinated against diphtheria using pentavalent vaccine and more than 10 million children received tetanus and diphtheria vaccines.