By Femi Falana
Part two of this piece published on Friday concluded with reference to a Court of Appeal ruling against vehicle inspection officers violently stopping motorists on public highways.
Such conduct sends a wrong signal to the citizens who may adopt such strong-arm tactics as a means of settling disputes”. In Femi Falana v Attorney-General of the Federation, the plaintiff had prayed the Federal High Court to declare the abolition of the People’s Bank of Nigeria illegal and order the Federal Government to re-establish the Bank on the ground that the law establishing it had not been repealed by the National Assembly.
In opposing the case, the Attorney-General challenged the locus standi of the plaintiff to institute the action and the competence of the suit on the ground that it was statute-barred. In his reply to the objections to the suit, the Plaintiff who appeared for himself submitted that the doctrine of locus standi has given way to public interest litigation in Nigeria.
Saying that the Federal Government has acknowledged that poverty was on the increase in the country, the Plaintiff submitted that it was unjust to abolish the bank when the Central Bank of Nigeria had recently bailed out commercial banks, collapsed by the rich and it was currently wiping out the toxic debts owed by the same set of few pampered citizens. In upholding the contention of the Plaintiff, the judge held that the plaintiff had established his locus standi as a concerned citizen in line with the new trend on legal standing in public interest litigation in Nigeria.
The judge ruled that since the People’s Bank of Nigeria Act (Cap P7) Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 is a valid and existing law, the decision to scrap the bank by the Federal Government is illegal and unconstitutional. The Judge also said that as a continuous violation, the case was not affected by the Public Officers Protection Act. Justice Idris, therefore, ordered the Federal Government to re-establish the bank to continue to give soft loans to underprivileged citizens in line with the provisions of the People’s Bank of Nigeria Act.
Section 16-Economic Objectives: In order to ensure that resources of the nation are harnessed to promote the happiness of the people government shall control and manage the economy in a manner that the commonwealth is not concentrated in the hands of a few people or a group. Consequently, section 44 (3) of the Constitution states that the entire mineral resources of the nation shall be taken over and vested in the Government of the Federation. See AG Abia v AG of the Federation.
The National Assembly shall make laws for the management of the mineral resources. See the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021.
Section 17-Social Objectives: In promoting the social objectives of the nation the state shall promote equality of rights, obligations and opportunities before the law, the sanctity of the human person, governmental actions shall be humane, exploitation of human and natural resources shall be preserved while the independence, impartiality and integrity of the judiciary shall be secured and maintained.
Accordingly, the state shall direct its policy towards ensuring that all citizens have opportunities to secure adequate means of livelihood and suitable employment, conditions of work are just and humane, health, safety and welfare of persons in employment are safeguarded, there are adequate medical and health facilities for all persons, equal pay for equal work and that children, young persons and the aged are protected while there shall be public assistance in deserving cases.
It is submitted that some of the aforesaid social rights are captured in the fundamental rights enshrined in chapter 4 of the Constitution. For instance, section 33 provides for the right to life, section 34 provides for the right to dignity of the human person, section 36 provides for independence of the judiciary while section 42 has abolished discrimination.
This means that social rights which are not justiciable may be enforced under chapter 4 of the Constitution. Furthermore, the National Assembly has enacted a number of laws to advance the social rights of the Nigerian people. They include the Labour Act, National Minimum Wage Act, Pension Reforms Act, Employees Compensation Act, National Health Insurance Act, National Health Act, Peoples Bank Act, National HIV/AIDS Agency Act etc.
Laws for the protection of the rights of the elderly and people with disabilities: In line with Section 16 (2) (d) of the Nigerian 1999 Constitution which mandates the state to provide adequate social services and improve the quality of life of the elderly the National Senior Citizens Centre Bill has been passed into law as the National Senior Citizens Centre Act, 2017 to cater for the needs of senior citizens (70 and above) in the country. Pursuant to the law, President Buhari has approved the take-off of the National Senior Citizens Centre and the constitution of its 12-member board.
The National Assembly has equally promulgated the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, 2018. The law has prohibited discrimination on the basis of disability and imposed sanctions including fines and prison sentences on those who contravene the provisions. On August 24, 2020 President Buhari approved the executive members of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities.
Legal protection of women and children: Article 18(3) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights states that: “The state shall ensure the elimination of every discrimination against women and also ensure the protection of the rights of women and the child as stipulated in international declarations and conventions.” I have argued elsewhere that the implication of the provision is that all international human rights treaties for the protection of women and children are applicable in Nigeria.
However, Nigeria has ratified the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women and Child’s Rights Convention. Pursuant to such ratification the National Assembly enacted the Child’s Rights Act which has comprehensively provided for the rights and welfare of every child and the Compulsory, Free, Universal Basic Education Act provides for free and compulsory education for every child from primary to junior secondary school.
The Violence Against Persons Act was passed into law in a bid to eliminate violence in private and public life; prohibit all forms of violence, including physical, sexual, psychological, domestic, harmful traditional practices; discrimination against persons and to provide maximum protection and effective remedies for victims and punishment of offenders.
The content of the Act is rich in its provisions as it covers most of the prevalent forms of violence in Nigeria today ranging from physical violence; psychological violence; sexual violence; harmful traditional practices; and socio-economic violence. Under the VAPP Act, rape, spousal battery, forceful ejection from home, forced financial dependence or economic abuse, harmful widowhood practices, female circumcision or genital mutilation, abandonment of children, harmful traditional practices, harmful substance attacks such as acid baths, political violence, forced isolation and separation from family and friends, depriving persons of their liberty, incest, indecent exposure and violence by a state actor (especially government security forces) among others are punishable offences.
Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, wrote from Lagos
To be concluded.
VANGUARD
