Lagos Assembly explains Human Rights Committee
In recognition of the dignity and rights of citizens and residents, the Lagos State House of Assembly is seeking to establish the Lagos State Human Rights Committee.
The Chairman, House Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights, Public Petitions and LASIEC, Mr Victor Akande, made this known during a stakeholders meeting on Wednesday at the assembly complex.
Akande said the committee was created in the Bill titled, ‘A Law to amend the Office of the Public Defender Law, 2015.’
He noted that upon the transfer of any executive bill to the Legislative House, it was important to observe a public hearing and in this case, a stakeholders meeting is needed to take into cognisance the observations of the public.
The lawmaker stated that the creation of the Lagos State Human Rights Committee would further enhance the adoption of equal and inalienable rights of all members of the public.
He promised that the Lagos State House of Assembly would put a searchlight on the bill and expand it where such was needed.
The chairman added that the House would come up with a robust law that would attend to the problems of citizens and look for a better way to defend them.
Speaking, Human Rights Activist, Mr Femi Falana, appreciated the executive arm for sending the bill to the House as part of the resolutions formed at the EndSARS State Judicial Panels of Inquiry.
Falana noted that the Office of the Public Defender had been saddled with a monumental task of protecting the rights of residents and visitors to Lagos State from both government officials, private individuals and organisations.
“The intended Human Rights Committee should be an independent body as it will be an agency that will register complaints and petitions of over 21 million people.
“It will also address international fora and organisations such as ECOWAS and the United Nations over human rights issues in Lagos, Nigeria and Africa,” he said.
Falana, who argued in favour of its independence, said the funding of the agency should also be independent as most human rights bodies did not depend on stipends from the government.
He suggested that the composition of the committee should involved one senior officer from the Nigerian Armed Forces to bridge the gap between the Force and any human rights cases that would be heard by the committee.
Falana further suggested that after the stakeholders’ meeting, various human rights bodies in the state be contacted to receive their memoranda.
On her part, the Director of Office of the Public Defender, Lagos, Mrs Olayinka Adenrera, said the committee would require separate funding as the Public Defender’s Office was already overwhelmed with human rights cases.
Also, Mrs Bimbo Sowemimo, from the Ministry of Justice, said the state intended to implement the recommendations of the panel of inquiry into the EndSARS.
Sowemimo added that the amendment being sought was an attempt to put that in motion, monitor and observe its efficiency in the system.
Similarly, Mrs Semi Ogunfowode, Chief State Counsel from the Citizens Mediation Centre, commended the process in relation to the bill.
Ogunfowode said the committee was proof that the government was concerned with the wellbeing of the people.
