Legal Practitioner, Wale Ogunade has joined the growing list of Nigerians who have criticised Minister of Justice and Attorney-General, Abubakar Malami for opposing the resolution of southern governors to ban open grazing in their states.
Oguande in his reaction said he felt bad that Malami a Senior Advocate of Nigeria would pander to politics instead of standing by the law on the issue.
He said: “My attention has been drawn to the statement made by Attorney-General Malami, and i feel bad at the presentation because as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, he knows that his statement is political and not law . And it supports my call over the years that the office of the Attorney-General be separated from the office of Minister of Justice, because as we see with Malami’s statement, it is politics and not law.
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“As a lawyer, I know that the ban on open grazing has not affected the rights of herders to move freely and acquire land in any state for the establishment of ranches in line with the provisions of sections 41 and 43 of the Constitution. Since the Constitution does not cover the right of animals to move freely and destroy farmlands. It is grossly misleading by Malami to give the impression that the ban on open grazing has abrogated the right of herders to carry out their business.”
“In fact, equating open grazing to spare parts selling is very pedestal, because parts sellers rent shops to sell their wares, but herders don’t pay for grazing not to talk of compensating crops damaged on farmlands. Malami should deny or retract that statement in the name of honour.”