The Bureau of The Public Defender (BPD)
Welcome to The Bureau of the Public Defender. We serve as an independent, fearless legal shield for the people—committed to providing free legal representation, protecting constitutional rights, and ensuring that poverty is never a barrier to receiving full and rigorous defense under the law.
Dr. Babajide Olumuyiwa Martins
Permanent Secretary, The Bureau of the Public Defender (BPD)
Dr. Babajide Olumuyiwa Martins
Permanent Secretary, The Bureau of the Public Defender (BPD)
Dr. Babajide Olumuyiwa Martins is a Legal Luminary, a Progressive and Seasoned Technocrat, a Human Rights Advocate, a Passionate and Relentless Worker in the Temple of Justice.
He is a graduate of the University of Lagos and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1990. He is also a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales.
Dr. Martins graduated with a Master in Law, LLM in European Management and Employment Law and Master of Business Administration (MBA), respectively, from the University of Leicester, England. He thereafter bagged a PhD in Constitutional Law from Birkbeck College, University of London.
Prior to his appointment as the Pioneer Permanent Secretary of the Bureau of the Public Defender, Dr. Martins served as the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Lagos State. He was also formerly the Director of the Lagos State Office of the Public Defender.
Prior to joining the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, Dr. Martins worked in England as a Crown Prosecutor and at Blackburn Borough Council in England, where his practice included Criminal Prosecution, Civil Litigation, Employment Law, Youth Justice and Safeguarding.
He is a versatile facilitator who has conducted, presented papers and served as a discussant at the National Judicial Institute and Lagos State Judiciary Legal Week. He has also conducted several trainings on Criminal Justice Administration for Police Officers, Magistrates and Customary Court Judges.
Dr. Martins is an ardent advocate of Restorative Justice and Mediation in Criminal Matters. He is also an advocate of a fair and just Criminal Justice System and was a member of the committee that drafted the Lagos State Sentencing Guidelines.
He has served as the Liaison Officer on the European Union-funded Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption Programme administered by the British Council in Lagos State. He is also the Liaison Officer for the Ministry of Justice on the German GIZ Programme for support for the Criminal Justice Administration.
He has served as Special Assistant on Criminal Prosecutions to two former Lagos State Attorneys-General and was formerly a Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions before he was appointed Director of the Office of the Public Defender.
Dr. Martins is a current member of the Lagos State Biosecurity Board.
Pioneer Permanent Secretary of the Bureau of the Public Defender, bringing extensive experience in legal practice, criminal justice administration, public prosecution, human rights advocacy and access to justice.
The Bureau of the Public Defender (BPD)
CORE FUNCTIONS
The office of the Public Defender, a sub-department of the Directorate for Citizens’ Rights (DCR) was established in July, 2000 to fulfill the desires of the poor in the society towards access to justice. It was established under the OPD Law, 2003, reviewed in January 2008, to serve as an autonomous institution with the primary objective of providing free legal services to the indigent in line with the Lagos State Government’s policy on access to justice.
The OPD therefore epitomizes a transformation of the Justice Ministry from a defacto “Ministry of Law and Order”, which it was under the military rule until 1999, to a Ministry where protection of the rights of the citizen is a core objective.
Fundin for the sub-department was initially by the State Government and some donor orgnaizations such as Ford Foundation and the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA). The State Government is currently the sole source of funding for the department.
Under the leadership of Hon. Justice Bisi Akinlade who headed the department from inception till March, 2008, Mrs. Omotola Rotimi took over, Mrs. Olubukola O. Salami then took over from her. The office became the flagship of legal aid not only in Nigeria but in sub-Saharan Africa. The department is currently headed by Mrs. Adenrera Olayinka Adeyemi and has five offices located at strategic areas of Lagos State. It has formed partnership with several civil society groups to further extend the reach of its operations.