A frontline human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has
described the proposed Infectious Diseases Bill as superfluous, illegal and
unconstitutional.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria said that the efforts to
replace the Quarantine Act was a waste of time, adding that the Nigeria Centre
for Disease Control, NCDC, and Prevention Act of 2018 has taken care of what
the legislators are trying to achieve.
Falana said this when he appeared on Channels Television’s
Politics Today, on Wednesday.
The legal practitioner said, “It is pertinent to inform
Nigerians that in November 2018, a law was enacted in this country – the
Nigeria Centre for Disease Control Act, NCDC Act, which has taken care of
infectious diseases in the country.
“So, it is not correct, in fact, it is misleading on the
part of the House of Representatives to say that it is amending the 1926
Quarantine Act because there is already a development between 1926 and now. You
had the 2018 Act which has taken care of the entire provisions of the new bill.
“The new bill, as far as the law is concerned, is
superfluous. Its provisions are largely illegal and unconstitutional.”
Several measures are being implemented to halt the spread of
Coronavirus in Nigeria, which has infected 2,950 people in the country and
claimed over 100 lives already.
The introduction of the infectious disease Bill has,
however, proved controversial with many calling for it to be dumped.
The bills before the House of Representatives is
co-sponsored by the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila and two others,
Gbajabiamila, on Tuesday said the Bill was conceived in the
best interests of the Nigerian people.
According to him, the allegation that the Bill is a sinister
attempt to turn the citizens into guinea pigs for medical research and take
away their fundamental human rights was far from the truth.
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