State v. S.O. Ilori and 2 Ors. (1983) 2 S.C. 155 per Eso JSC: “on the extensive and unfettered powers of the Attorney-General, Eso, J.S.C. who wrote the Court’s lead judgment said at page 178, “The pre-eminent and incontestable position of the Attorney General, under the common law, as the Chief law officer of the State, either generally as a legal adviser or specifically in all court proceeding to which the State is a party, has long been recognized by the Courts. In regard to these powers, and subject only to ultimate control by public opinion and that of Parliament or the legislature, the Attorney-General has, at common law, been a master unto himself, law unto himself, and under no control whatsoever, judicial or otherwise, vis-a-vis his powers of instituting or discontinuing criminal proceedings.”
THE PROPRIETY OF ENTERING A NOLLE PROSEQUI MAY BE QUESTIONED IN A CIVIL ACTION
Following our decision in The State v. S. O. Ilori & Ors., (1983) 1 SCNLR 94 at pp. 111; 116 and 119, it is settled, that where a nolle prosequi is entered in a criminal case, by an Attorney-General, under the provisions of either section 160 or 191 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1979; the propriety of exercising the power may be questioned in a civil action which can be brought by a person whose civil rights and or obligations have thereby been affected. It follows a fortiori that the exercise of the same power by a legal officer employed in the Ministry of Justice, as in the present case, can be the subject of similar proceedings.
– M.L. Uwais, JSC. AG Kaduna State v. Hassan (1985) – SC.149/1984