EndSARS: Lagos govt, panel dragged to court over Lekki shooting probe
- Two Nigerians have dragged the Lagos state government to court over the establishment of a judicial panel on the Lekki tollgate shooting
- The plaintiffs in the suit accused the governor of Lagos state, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, of being the judge in his own case
- According to the plaintiffs, the court should make a declaration that the governor has no right to set up such a panel
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A suit has been filed before a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos to disband the judicial panel of inquiry and restitution for victims of SARS related abuses in the state and at the Lekki toll gate.
The suit filed by two Nigerian men - Adekunle Augustine and Semion Akogwu - asked the court to disband the panel on the ground that the Lagos state governor, being a party in the matter, did not exercise his power in the public interest by setting up the panel.
Messers Augustine and Akogwu prayed the court to make a declaration that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu cannot set up a panel in an investigation he is a party to.
Source: UGC
The plaintiffs also alleged that the panel will be in favour of the governor and the state government in its decision because the petitioners said they believe that whoever pays the piper dictates the tune of the music.
Other defendants include the chairman of the panel and the attorney general of the state.
The chairman of the panel is listed as the second respondent in the case dated November 11 and filed at a Lagos federal high court with suit number FHC/L/CS/1572/20.
The plaintiffs, Augustine and Akogwu, in the suit, filed through their counsel, Samuel Adama, seek the determination of the following questions:
"Whether having regards to section 5(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), exhibits A and exhibit B, the first defendant validly exercised his powers in the public interest by setting up the third defendant to investigate a matter in which the first defendant himself is a party?"
Upon the determination of the questions, the plaintiffs also prayed the court for the following reliefs:
"A declaration that having regards to section 36(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) together with exhibits A and exhibit B, the second defendant being an agent/appointee of the first defendant cannot ensure a fair hearing for the plaintiffs under the auspices of the third defendant in a matter in which the first defendant is a party."
Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that some residents of Lagos state have sought the immediate scrapping of the Lekki tollgate as a revenue-generating entity in the state.
The Lagos residents - Chief Alaba Williams, Bashorun Jaiye Randle, Ade Dosunmu, and Chief Adesunbo Onitiri - said the scrapping of the tollgate will alleviate the suffering of the people in the state.
They also said that such a move would ease the flow of traffic for road users and other residents of Lagos.
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Source: Legit.ng
