The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, has been under heavy criticism over his condemnation of decisions of the governors of the seventeen southern states.
Members of the Southern Governors Forum held a meeting in Asaba, Delta State, on Tuesday last week, after which they came out with a ten-point resolution.
The resolutions include a ban on open grazing in the entire southern part of Nigeria, as well as calls for restructuring and devolution of powers.
In his reaction; Abubakar Malami said the ban on open grazing is a violation of the constitutional right of citizens to move freely, live and do business in any part of the country.
However, Lagos-based lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, said the right to freedom of movement under Section 41 of the Constitution cannot be applied in violation of Section 43, which guarantees the right of citizens to own property.
Adegboruwa also faulted Malami for making proclamations that are reserved for the judiciary, outside his constitutional role as a Minister and member of the Executive Arm of government.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria advised Houses of Assembly of sates that have proscribed open grazing to go ahead to make laws to support their declarations.
Also speaking in a telephone interview with Lasgidi FM News Desk; former Ikeja Branch Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, Monday Ubani, said the Minister of Justice should go to court to challenge the decisions of the Southern governors.
On his part; the Co-Chairman of Agenda 2050 Steering Committee, Atedo Peterside, said it was wrong for the Minister of Justice to link the ban on open grazing to the constitutional right to the free movement of persons.
Peterside maintained that the right to free movement of persons does not extend to the free movement of animals through farms, with the attendant destruction of crops and harvest of farmers.