The judicial panels investigating the October 2020 #EndSARS protests and cases of police brutality across the country are illegal, Minister of State for Labour and Employment Festus Keyamo has declared.
Keyamo was, however, quick to explain that his comment was not that of the Federal Government, but his personal view as a lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
Keyamo was responding specifically to a question yesterday by Channels Television Sunday Politics about the position of the Federal Government regarding the leaked report of the Lagos State Panel of Inquiry on Restitution of Victims of SARS Related Abuses and Other Related Matters.
He said: “I will not answer this question as a sitting minister. I will answer this question as a SAN and so, I am entitled to my own opinion. This is not the Federal Government’s position.
“For me, that panel was an illegal panel.”
But, a former Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) Vice President Monday Ubani, disagreed with him, saying his(Keyamo) comment was “suspicious, pathetic and provoking..”
“His logic and submissions are not only suspicious but provoking. He never expressed this viewpoint until after the report from Lagos Panel indicted the government of the day. His view is so pathetic!.”
