Nigerian lawyer and human rights activist, Femi Fanala has stated that White Paper is unknown to the law.
Falana
Human rights activist, Femi Falana has stated that the white paper presented by the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo Olu on the report of the ENDSARS panel is unknown to law.
According to him, both the federal and state governments cannot interfere with the report of the panel that investigated the Lekki tollgate shooting on October 20, 2020.
He explained that the decision would be a setback for the state government’s current administrative process on the panel report, since the governor’s committee still has a couple of days to submit a White Paper on the study.
Falana also noted that Sanwo Olu is constitutionally prohibited from dismissing the findings, stating that the only option given to those charged is to go to court.
He said: “We are not unaware of the purported rejection of the report of the commission by the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed and the pressure on the White Paper committee by some anti-democratic forces to advise the governor to jettison the findings and recommendations of the commission.
“Such critics are certainly not aware that there is no provision for the issuance of a White Paper under the law. In other words, a White Paper is a mere administrative medium for conveying the decision or position of the government on the report of an administrative or judicial enquiry.
“Therefore, since the White Paper committee is not known to law, its members are 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.”