Mr Femi Falana, the human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, has described as illegal the review of the Retired Justice Doris Okuwobi’s #EndSARS panel findings on the incident which occurred at the Lekki Toll Gate in October 2020.
He said the White Paper committee set up by the Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu did not have the legal backing and competence to edit, modify, alter or reject the report of the commission.
He said, “When the government set up a White Paper committee a fortnight ago, I questioned its legal validity. It was my view that since the committee is unknown to law, the members were not competent to edit, modify, alter, edit or reject the report of the commission, more so, that the members of White Paper committee did not have the opportunity of taking evidence from the witnesses who had testified before the commission.
“The governor cannot reject the report, summary of evidence and findings of the Okuwobi Judicial Commission in any material particular.
“In a bid to discredit the findings of the Lagos State Judicial Panel on Restitution for victims of SARS-Related Abuses and Other Matters, the White Paper Committee acted ultra vires by advising the governor to accept, reject or refer the recommendations of the panel to the Federal Government. Thus, the state government arrogantly stated that the claim that nine people died at LTG on October 21, 2020, from gunshots fired by the military are based on assumptions and speculations.”
