GOVERNOR SANWO-OLU REPLIES LAWYER, SAYS HE WILL NOT RELEASE INSTRUMENT SETTING UP PANEL

I've received a response to the Freedom of Information request that I sent to governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for the Certified True Copy of the Instrument setting up the Lagos Panel of Inquiry.

You will recall that on 26th October, 2020, I invoked the Freedom of Information Act 2011 and requested for the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the Instrument (official document) setting up the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on SARS Abuses and Lekki Toll Gate Incident.

I also requested for the CTC of the Instrument, Executive Order or Directive under which curfew was imposed on the State from the hours of 9pm on 20th October.

In my FOI application, I equally requested for CCTV records showing the attack on protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate.

By virtue of Section 1 of the Tribunals of Inquiry Law of Lagos State, the Panel of Inquiry can only be created by an Instrument; not by a press release or declaration in the media. Without this Instrument, the Panel is illegal. Only an Instrument can legalize their proceedings.

The inescapable implication is that except there is an legal Instrument as required by law, we are wasting our time with the ongoing inquiry. The members of the Panel, protesters and the public deserves clarification from the governor on this issue. This is a fundamental issue.

It is also important for us to see the Instrument under which the curfew was declared. Given the conflicting accounts by the state government, the military and other interested parties, it is essential for the Instrument by which the curfew was imposed to be made public.

The governor has refused to release the CCTV records to me.

In a letter signed by a lawyer, Deyemi Bamgbose, for the Hon. Attorney General, on behalf of governor Sanwo-Olu, the governor said that he cannot grant my request because the FOI Act is not binding on Lagos State.

The governor cited a decision of the Edo Division of the Court of Appeal in EDOSACA V OSAKUE in support of his decision.

However, in Alo V Speaker, Ondo State House of Assembly & Anor (2018), the Ondo Division of the Court of Appeal held that the FOI Act is binding on States.

The issue here is not the conflicting decisions of the Court of Appeal.

The issue is the governor's questionable commitment to a credible investigation by the Panel of Inquiry. If the governor is sincere, why has he refused to release these Instruments if they actually exist?

I will review this matter and take the appropriate action.

Those who lost their lives and those whose properties were destroyed deserves justice. We will be dishonouring them if we do not unravel the truth.

Governor Sanwo-Olu should release the Instruments.

Inibehe Effiong.