TECHNOCRAT MEDIA NIGERIA
Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN, a member of the Lagos #EndSARS panel, says the Federal Government cannot say the panels set up across the states to address issues of police brutality and Lekki tollgate killings in Lagos, raised by the #EndSARS protesters in 2020, were illegal because the outcome of the Lagos panel did not favour it.
On Sunday, Minister of State for Labour, Mr Festus Keyamo, SAN, had while appearing on a private television station said the #EmdSARS panels were illegal.
Mr Adegboruwa, in reaction to Keyamo’s assertion, in a statement on Monday, said: “The Federal Government has recently muted the idea that all the Judicial Panels of Inquiry set up by the various States across the Federation, especially that of Lagos State, are illegal.
“It has never been part of our legal system in Nigeria, for a plaintiff who approached the court in the first instance, to turn around to challenge the legality or jurisdiction of the court.”
“The #EndSARS Panels were set up at the behest of the Federal Government, through the National Economic Council. In the case of the Lagos Panel, the Federal Government, through the Nigerian Army, voluntarily submitted itself to the jurisdiction of the Panel, the Federal Government called witnesses, it tendered documents and it made very lengthy presentations.”
“A party cannot approbate and reprobate at the same time. Thus, a party who initiated a process and willingly and actively participated in that process, cannot turn around, after judgment, to plead illegality or absence of jurisdiction, simply because the outcome is unfavorable. We must strengthen our institutions to make them work.”
“While we all await the White Paper from the Lagos State Government, it is important for the government to build trust in the people in all its dealings and utterances,” he added.
TECHNOCRAT MEDIA discovered that the vice president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo announced the decision of the federal government to set up #EndSARS judicial panels across the thirty-six states of the federation and the federal capital territory on October 16, 2020, after an NEC meeting with the state governors.
“The Vice President of Nigeria, Yemi Osinbajo, broke his silence on the #EndSARS protests to announce that the 36 State Governors and the FCT Minister will set up judicial panels of inquiry that will adopt public hearings.”, Naira Metrics reported.
“We understand that you want to see action from us and I’m here to tell you that work is ongoing. I chaired a meeting of 36 state governors and the Minister of the FCT (NEC), where we resolved to set up judicial panels of inquiry so we can see justice served, and fast.”
— Prof Yemi Osinbajo (@ProfOsinbajo) October 16, 2020
