Mr. Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and human rights lawyer, has called for the withdrawal of the list of appointees into the Governing Council of the National Human Rights Commision (NHRC) for failing to meet constitutional requirements and provisions of the Federal Character Commission (FCC). The appointees were appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari, and submitted to the Senate for confirmation.
Falana, in a letter to the President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, argued that the appointment if allowed to stay would have an adverse effect on the issue of human rights in the country. Falana in the letter dated April 19 noted that while the appointment was commendable for coming nearly six years after the dissolution of the last Governing Council in 2015 by President Buhari, he expressed disappointment that the list of the members however violated constitutional requirements. He said that that the aforementioned nominations are not in consonance with Section 14 (3) of the Constitution, which stipulates that the composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few State or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government or in any of its agencies. The letter stated, “However, we have confirmed that President Buhari has nominated 16 persons and requested the Senate to confirm them in accordance with the provisions of section 2(2) of the National Human Rights Commission Amendment Act, 2010.
Having studied the list we have found, to our utter dismay, that three out of the four nominees representing the North West Zone are from Kebbi State, including the chairperson of the Governing Council, Mrs. Salamotu Hussaini Suleiman." The senior lawyer while stating that lopsided appointments had recently fuelled agitations for secession in some parts of the country by disenchanted youths and socio-cultural bodies, said that they were compelled to call on the Senate to ensure that all appointments that require Senate confirmation are in consonance with the provisions of the Constitution and other relevant laws in the interest of the corporate existence of the country.
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