Attorney General to establish offices in all 6 new regions to expand access to justice

Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Dr Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, has announced plans to establish offices of the Attorney General’s Department in all six newly created regions as part of a broader strategy to expand access to justice and strengthen legal services at the local level.

Speaking on Starr Chat, hosted by Bola Ray, on Thursday, January 15, 2026, Dr Ayine said the initiative has already been captured in the government’s budget for the year and will begin implementation within the public sector.

“For the public sector, I am going to open offices of the Attorney General in the six new regions,” he said. “I’ve actually put it in our budget for this year and we are planning to open our offices in those regions.”

The Attorney General explained that the move will be accompanied by targeted recruitment of lawyers, particularly those willing to live and work in the newly created regions, where access to legal services remains limited.

According to him, this will help correct long-standing disparities between urban and rural areas in the provision of justice.

Dr Ayine further linked the expansion to ongoing reforms in legal education, which he said are expected to increase the overall number of lawyers in the country. He expressed optimism that some of the new entrants to the profession will choose careers in public service.

“Then of course the reform of legal education will result in the increase of the number of lawyers in the country and hopefully some of them will agree to work in the public sector,” he noted.

He added that the long-term vision is to ensure that district and municipal assemblies are properly supported by qualified legal professionals, in line with statutory requirements. Under the Local Governance Act, assemblies are expected to have legal departments, a requirement that has largely remained unmet due to staffing constraints.

Dr Ayine said placing lawyers as in-house counsel within assemblies would significantly improve the quality of legal transactions and decision-making at the local level.

“They can go to the assemblies and be in-house counsellors for the assemblies and I am sure we will be better off in terms of the quality of legal transactions that come out of the assemblies and legal departments,” he said.