Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has stated that President Buhari’s lockdown order in Lagos, Ogun and the FCT is legal.
The Vice President who disclosed this while speaking at a Google
Hangout, a programme organised by HACK COVID-19 Call Centre in Abuja on
Monday March 30, stated that the legality of the president’s order is
unnecessary because it is backed by an act of the national assembly.
In a statement issued by Osinbajo’s media aide Laolu Akande, the Vice
President stated that the Quarantine Act of 1926 which is published in
all Nigerian laws 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.
He said;
“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.“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.“So, the President has extensive powers under the Quarantine Act of
1926. Also, Governors have extensive powers under the same Quarantine
Act.“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.”