Among the Legislative Council’s resolutions from its sitting on Sunday was the ratification of Mr Otumala Emmanuel’s appointment as Attorney General of Zik hall. Apart from being a 400 level law student, Mr Otumala currently serves as a judge in the Judicial Council of the Law Students’ Society (LSS), Faculty of Law. Prior to his judicial appointment, Mr Otumala had also served as a bailiff for LSS’ Judicial Council.
Put concisely, Mr Otumala is well acquainted with the workings of the law and his recent appointment as the AG of Zik hall makes him a suitable refining tool of the hall’s dormant judicial system. In fact, nothing could be clearer than the Legislative Council’s explicit charge, “to work hard and revive the hall’s judicial system”.
Considering the AG’s pivotal role in steering the judicial wheels of Zik hall perhaps a quick rundown of the antecedents of Zik hall’s judicial system will be insightful. In the 2017/2018 session, a six man constitutional review committee of law students was empanelled. The outcome of the committee’s review was the establishment of a Judicial Council (JC) and the office of the Attorney General in Zik hall. These institutions were duly entrenched in the constitution through an amendment process. By 2019, Zik hall had an active JC. However, while this initiative was thought to enhance administrative process in Zik hall, a different outcome is observed.
Since its establishment in 2019, the JC has heard only a single case presided over by the then Chief Judge Ayodele Isaac. Unfortunately while only legal skirmishes were addressed in the case, the hearing did not proceed into its substance. Ever since, the JC has been simply dormant.
A simple reason for this has been the inoperativeness of the office of the AG and the ethics and litigation committee subsumed under it, since procedurally, the JC cannot be expected to solicit for its own cases. In fact, back in 2019, the only case entertained in the JC was instituted against the office of the AG which was at the time occupied by Mr. Akeju Olusegun, former SU President.
A session after (2018/2019), the only noticeable change in the AG’s office and the JC is the yearly change of office holders, while the most we know of these offices and their occupiers are the gleaming pictures on the back cover of the Zik hall books as part of the hall package.
To clarify, the office of the AG is not being undermined neither is the AG’s function as the chief legal adviser to the executive council discountenanced. However, a substantive part of the functions of the office which is in connection to the activities of the JC has been found wanting ever since its creation. Thus, the JC itself invariably suffers inactivity as a result.
Succeeding Mr Olayiwola David, Mr Otumala Emmanuel’s recent appointment resurfaces the question of the functionality of the AG’s office and the JC. In an interview with the new AG, he demonstrates an appreciation of this bugging issue.
He says, “the issue you raised is the major reason why I accepted the appointment to serve as the AG in the first place. I have always been concerned about the unrecognized nature of the Judicial arm in Zik hall due to its inactivity. We all know that the JC cannot go out to solicit for cases all by itself. Rather, parties are to bring issues before the council for resolution. However, in a place like Zik Hall which is not such a litigious society, many may be oblivious of the existence, practices and procedures of the Court. That is where the office of the AG comes in and that explains the reason why the drafters of the Zik Hall Constitution introduced the JC and the office of the AG together into the Constitution.”
As these expectations from the AG’s office are desired, prompt and effective implementation will go a long way in reestablishing the essence of Zik hall’s judicial system. In his final statement the AG confidently affirms, “I will say emphatically that plans are already on ground on how to get the office of the AG fully functional (and by extension, the Judicial Council )”. The reliability of the AG’s expressed confidence will be assured only by performance.
SAINT
