Legal luminary, Femi Falana says there is pressure on the White Paper Committee by some “anti-democratic forces” to advise Lagos governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu to jettison the findings and recommendations of the judicial panel on police brutality.
According to Falana, there is no provision for the issuance of a White Paper under the law.
In a speech delivered on Thursday when some leaders of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights visited him in Lagos, Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) said, “We are not unaware of the purported rejection of the report of the commission by the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, and the pressure on the White Paper Committee by some anti-democratic forces to advise the governor to jettison the findings and recommendations of the commission.”
Falana said critics were not aware that there is no provision for the issuance of a White Paper under the law.
Furthermore, he described a White Paper as a mere administrative medium for conveying the decision or position of the government on the report of an administrative or judicial enquiry.
He added, “Since the White Paper Committee is not known to law, its members are not competent to edit, modify, alter, edit or reject the report of the Commission. More so, that the members of the White Paper Committee did not have the opportunity of taking evidence from the witnesses who had testified before the Commission.
“Having regard to the letter and spirit of the Tribunal of Enquiry Law, it is submitted that the Federal Government lacks the legal competence to reject the report of a panel of enquiry duly constituted by the Lagos State Government. Therefore, Governor Sanwo-Olu should not hesitate to reject the gratuitous call for the rejection of the report of the Lagos Judicial Commission by Mr Lai Mohammed.
“Once a White Paper is issued by the governor on the recommendations, the institutions and individuals indicted by the commission may wish to approach the High Court to challenge any aspect of the report.”
The white paper is expected to be published by the Lagos State Government next week.
These criticisms on the panel of enquiries on ENDSARS tantamount to shooting oneself in the feet. All that are rubbishing the white paper know the truth. For how long would they bottle the. “Nigeria shall know the truth and only the truth shall set us free……”