Nigerians’ inability to access African Court not violating Falana’s rights – AGF

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice,
Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), has said that Nigerians’ inability to
access the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights does not
constitute a violation of the rights of Mr. Femi Falana.

The AGF stated this in his counter-affidavit and preliminary
objection filed on May 9, 2019, in response to a suit filed by
Falana seeking an order compelling the Federal Government to make
the declaration, which every African nation is required to make
before their citizens can present cases before the continental
court.

Malami is the sole defendant in the suit marked
FHC/ABJ/CS/356/2019 and filed on May 3, 2019.

Seeking the dismissal of the suit, the AGF said Falana did not
file the suit before the Federal High Court on behalf of any
Nigerian whose right was violated, but that he only instituted it
in his bid to represent his clients at the African Court.

The AGF, through the Permanent Secretary and Solicitor-General
of the Federation, Mr. Dayo Apata, who filed the response to the
suit, said the suit was incompetent, as, according to him, it did
not constitute a violation of fundamental rights.

Falana had complained in his suit filed before the Federal High
Court on May 3, 2019, that there had been reports about young men
and women who were captured and sold into slavery in Libya.

He added that many Nigerians, who were kept in “notorious
slavery camps” and whose human rights were violated in Libya, had
asked him to seek redress on their behalf in the African Court.

He said he was unable to file cases for them in the African
Court as Nigeria had “not accepted the competence of the
court.”

But faulting the lawyer’s complaints, the AGF stated, “That
paragraphs 8, 9 and 10 do not qualify as breach of fundamental
rights of the applicant.

“That the applicant (Falana) has not stated how his fundamental
rights have been breached by the respondent.

“The applicant has not made out any case against the respondent
and there is no controversy between the applicant and the
respondent.

“The applicant merely filed this suit to enable him to represent
his clients in the African Court on Human Rights and that is not
fundamental right as guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution and the
African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights

“The applicant did not make this application on behalf of any
applicant whose fundamental right has been breached, but who is
unable to personally approach the court on account of being
incarcerated and has briefed the applicant to do so on his
behalf.”

The AGF described the prayers contained in the suit as academic
“and amounts to dragging this honourable court along on a wild
goose chase”.

Article 34(6) of the Protocol for the establishment of the
African Court on Human and Peoples Rights requires member states of
the African Union to make a declaration accepting the competence of
the African Court to receive cases from non-governmental
organisations and individuals in the countries.

Nigeria is among the 30 member states of the African Union that
have ratified the protocol establishing the court, which is based
in Arusha, Tanzania.

But, despite being currently represented on the 11-man bench of
the African Court, Nigeria has yet to make the declaration
recognising the competence of the court.

Only nine countries, namely, Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote
D’voire , Ghana, Gambia, Mali, Malawi, and Tanzania, have made the
declaration.

Dissatisfied with Nigerians’ inability to access the continental
court, Falana, through his lawyer, Mrs Funmi Falana, filed his suit
before the Federal High Court in Abuja on 3, 2019, seeking among
others, “an order directing the Federal Government to make a
Declaration accepting the competence of the African Court on Human
and Peoples Rights forthwith.”

He also sought a declaration that the failure or refusal of the
Federal Government “violates the applicant’s (Falana’s) right to
fair hearing guaranteed by Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended and Article 7(1) of the
African Charter on Human and Peoples Right (Cap A9) Laws of the
Federation 2004”.

The case has been scheduled to come up for hearing before
Justice Chukwuejekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court in Abuja on
Wednesday.

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