The Senate has tasked its Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights, and Legal Matters with working alongside the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation to commence the process of updating the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) 2004.
This decision was prompted by a motion sponsored by Senator Kaka Shehu Lawan (APC, Borno Central) on Tuesday’s plenary.The Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) is an exhaustive collection of Nigerian laws that are frequently updated to stay current with the latest developments.
The periodic compilation of the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria is carried out by the Attorney General of the Federation, with the approval of the National Assembly through the passage of an Act of Parliament.
Shehu Lawan, during the debate on his motion, pointed out that the statutes in the LFN were enacted in various years, both before and after Nigeria’s independence, despite all being referenced as “LFN 2004.”
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Pointing out the lack of revisions for almost two decades, he suggested that the compilation of the LFN excludes several laws enacted in Nigeria from January 1, 2003, onward.
Elaborating further, the federal lawmaker noted an effort in 2010 to amend the LFN, which ultimately didn’t come to fruition due to a lack of legal backing.
He also voiced concern that the persistent lack of revision for the LFN has not only excluded numerous statutes from the compilation but has also maintained duplicated statutes, leading to confusion.
Senator Shehu drew attention to the fact that the failure to compile numerous federal statutes leads to a lack of knowledge about many existing laws among Nigerians, including students, lecturers, researchers, lawyers, legislators, and judges.
Stressing the long-overdue nature of LFN revision, he pointed out that commencing the revision process without further delay would benefit democratic governance in Nigeria.