Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo says the order for the lockdown
of the federal capital territory (FCT), Lagos and Ogun by President Muhammadu
Buhari is legal.
Wole Soyinka, Nobel laureate, and Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, human
rights lawyer, faulted the president’s decision.
Buhari had ordered the lockdown of the FCT, Lagos and Ogun
states as a measure to curb the spread of coronavirus.
Speaking at a Google Hangout, a programme organised HACK
COVID-19 Call Centre, in Abuja on Monday, the vice-president said questioning
the legality of the president’s order is unnecessary because it is backed by an
act of the national assembly.
He said under the quarantine act, the president has powers
to make regulations of any kind that would curb infectious diseases.
“Regarding the legality of the shutdowns announced by the
President yesterday, -Sunday-I think it is entirely legal. These steps are
proactive, very relevant, important and backed by law,” Laolu Akande, his media
aide, quoted Osinbajo as saying in a statement he issued on Tuesday.
“I am not so sure some of the people who have commented on
the issue have come across the Quarantine Act. There is a Quarantine Act of
1926, it’s been published in all of the Laws of Nigeria, every edition of the
Laws of Nigeria, it is there.
“What the Act does is that it allows the President to
designate any local area, any part of the country, as a place that may be
infected or under the threat of a communicable disease, and he can then make
regulations of any kind.
“For instance, he can say, people should not go out; no
public gatherings etc. So, it is a regulation that gives the President powers
and these powers come from the National Assembly because, of course, it is an
act of the National Assembly.”
The vice-president said the 1926 quarantine act is deemed an
act of the national assembly going “by the virtue of the constitutional rules”.
“So, the President has extensive powers under the Quarantine
Act of 1926. Also, Governors have extensive powers under the same Quarantine
Act,” Osinbajo said.
“It is barely a one page legislation, so it is not
particularly difficult to find the relevant provisions and it is not
particularly difficult to read, very straightforward. So, the President has all
the powers.
“Many of us are not familiar with the Influenza pandemic
that killed several millions around the world in 1918. At that time regulations
were made here, very similar to what we have today, although that was under the
colonial authorities.
“They also banned public gatherings, banned gatherings in places
of worship then. So, there is even good historical precedence for some of what
we are doing today.”
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