I jumped over the fence to stop impunity, says Attorney General

Nasarawa State Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Innocent Lagi, said yesterday that he will not resign his appointment, despite calls to do so. Lagi has been under fire following a report last week that he jumped over the state House of Assembly fence to serve a court order.

A member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Lafia, Nasarawa State, Barrister Abubakar Abukakar Dogara, while addressing newsmen yesterday said last week’s conduct by the AG, when he scaled the fence of the state House of Assembly (NSHA) to serve a court order, constituted gross misconduct and was a dent on the image of the law profession.

But Lagi said: “Resignation is the last thing on my mind. I did not do anything wrong by protecting the rule of law.”

He said he did not go to the assembly complex to disrupt proceedings, “but to lawfully stop impunity”, and that the circumstance he was faced with warranted the height he went to serve the lawmakers with the order.

“No one can say what Nasarawa would have turned into if the commission’s chairman had complied with the resolution of the assembly to announce the election results,” he said.

Dogara had earlier said: “Lagi is not only a lawyer; he is also the chief law officer of the state. He is the Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice; all three rolled into one. If there is anybody to exhibit gentleman’s conducts; it is the Attorney General. Today, the law profession suffers stigma in the state. An Attorney General scaled the fence to assist a court bailiff to serve a court order? It means the bailiff can go lengths, even break into a house just to serve court processes. This represents a dark period in our profession”.

“Mr. Attorney General should be honourable to resign. Doing so will earn him honour, and the law profession will be saved from public ridicule. He has done us enough ruin; staying put in the office is to further dent the law profession,” Dogara said.

He added that the AG had no business following the court bailiff to the complex of the state assembly.

“The gate was sealed, but that does not warrant a gentleman scaling it to aid a court bailiff to effect service,” he said.