Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

News

Why Obaseki Should Review Edo COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate – NBA

Obaseki Mourns Foremost South-South SAN Kolawole Inneh
Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Benin Branch (The Lion Bar) on Wednesday advocated for a review of the vaccine mandate in Edo State.

Gatekeepers News reports that the State Governor, Godwin Obaseki had announced that persons who have not been vaccinated against the COVID-19 won’t be granted access to public facilities.

The NBA, in a statement signed by the Chairman of Benin Branch, Pius I. Oiwoh and the
Secretary, O. A. Lawani, acknowledged the need for Government to protect the lives of its citizens both in areas of health, security and other spheres, but noted that the Government must be and indeed is duty-bound to also respect constituted authority.

“As officers/worshipers in the temple of justice, we do not intend to delve into the substantive suit bothering on the legality or otherwise of the action of Government as same is sub judice. We shall however state that as a noble Profession under an umbrella body whose motto is ‘Promoting the Rule of Law’ and as the Peoples’ vanguard, the sanctity and integrity of the Judicial arm of Government must be respected.”

The Edo NBA highlighted reasons the Government should review the policy, citing the order pronounced last week by a vacation Judge of the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, which restrained the Edo State Government from carrying out the planned move.

“While we acknowledge that the intentions of the Government may be noble, but without compulsion, the Edo State Government must be seen to be law-abiding while going about this move. The Court of Appeal decision in the case of Nigerian Army v. Mowarin (1992) 4 NWLR Pt. 235 p. 354, “An order of court must be obeyed, even if such order is perverse until such a time that the order is set aside by a competent court.”

The NBA also noted that “Edo state is said to have a population of over 3 million people, the vaccines which have been sent to Edo state from publicly available information is at most 600,000 doses (this is a generous estimate). Most of these vaccines are double dose vaccines, which means that Edo State currently can vaccinate 300,000 persons assuming they take both doses.

“This, therefore, means that 2,700,000 persons will automatically be left behind even if they were all willing to take the vaccine. This represents more than 70 per cent of the Edo people. The mandate by the Edo State Government though “nobly-intended” is very premature for the simple reason that the vaccines are insufficient to go around. If and when the vaccines are abundant and available to go round, the vaccine mandates may therefore become logical.

“While we understand the strenuous task of governance and how cumbersome these decisions can be, we advocate the vaccine mandate be reconsidered for the above reasons. As a famous saying goes “a good intention is meaningless unless it is followed by a good action.”

Gatekeepers News reports that the NBA stressed that “the decision not to obey the said court order will be tantamount to flagrant disregard of the rule of law and the Constitution which the Government operates.

“We further submit that Public health and safety cannot override the fundamental rights of citizens especially when it tends to alienate and subjugate a valid order of a court of competent jurisdiction whether rightly or wrongly given which enforces such right. The present action of Government will no doubt affect, limit and restrict members and citizens access to justice in the circumstances.”

The statement concluded that “the Bar will as always ensure the promotion of the rule of law and the enforcement of citizens’ rights.”

You May Also Like

Business

Find below, the Dollar to Naira exchange rate for today, 28 March 2024. Gatekeepers News has obtained the official dollar to the naira exchange rate in...

Business

Find below, the Dollar to Naira exchange rate for today, 27 March 2024. Gatekeepers News has obtained the official dollar to the naira exchange rate in...

Business

Find below, the Dollar to Naira exchange rate for today, 26 March 2024. Gatekeepers News has obtained the official dollar to the naira exchange rate in...

News

Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the forthcoming governorship election in Edo State, Dr. Asue Ighodalo has expressed deep concerns over the...