The three-man tribunal set up by the Lagos State Government to investigate the July 4, 2014 military/civilian clash in the Palmgroove area of the state has said it will give its report in January 2015.
The Chairman of the panel, Justice Ebenezer Adebajo (retd), made this known in an exclusive interview with our correspondent on Wednesday.
The Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, had on July 21, 2014, inaugurated the tribunal following the mayhem where some military men allegedly set a number of Bus Rapid Transit vehicles ablaze in retaliation against the killing of one of their colleagues.
According to the governor, the enquiry was aimed at fishing out the masterminds of the act.
Adebajo, whose appointment as the chairman of the tribunal was earlier challenged by a Lagos lawyer and rights activist, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), told our correspondent that Falana’s petition was only “a storm in a tea cup”, as he had gone ahead to preside over the tribunal of enquiry and was ready to submit his findings.
Falana had petitioned Fashola, asking him to remove Adebajo from the panel. He had argued that Adebajo’s neutrality and fairness could not be guaranteed.
According to Falana, the retired judge, who had made the state to charge a commercial driver, Quadri Kasali, to court for murder because he allegedly hit his car, would hardly be impartial as a judge in another road traffic offence.
But reacting to the development on Wednesday, Adebajo said, “As you can see, it was a storm in a tea cup because I continued with the chairmanship of the tribunal. The governor asked for reports, I was asked to give my own viewpoints and then reports were made and the governor asked me to continue.
“So, I don’t think that that was a controversy; Falana had a viewpoint, he is entitled to his viewpoint and he expressed himself. Indeed the report of the tribunal will be out this January 2015.” Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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