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Tag: Femi Falana

  • SERAP, NGE Urge Tinubu, Governors to Protect Journalists, Tackle Insecurity

    SERAP, NGE Urge Tinubu, Governors to Protect Journalists, Tackle Insecurity

    The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project and the Nigerian Guild of Editors have called on the administration of Bola Tinubu, state governors, and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory to urgently safeguard press freedom and address worsening insecurity across parts of northern Nigeria.

    The call was made in a joint statement to mark World Press Freedom Day, following a conference held in Ikeja, Lagos, where stakeholders discussed the role of the media in promoting accountability, justice, and human rights amid rising violence.

    Both organisations stressed that protecting journalists and ensuring information integrity are critical to peace, security, and democratic stability. They warned that continued attacks on media practitioners and restrictions on press freedom could further weaken governance and fuel misinformation.

    According to the groups, ongoing violence in states such as Benue, Borno, Kwara, Plateau, and Sokoto has led to widespread killings, displacement, and destruction of livelihoods, with women and children disproportionately affected.

    They described the situation as a reflection of systemic failures to prevent harm, investigate abuses, and hold perpetrators accountable, noting that such lapses violate Nigeria’s obligations under the Constitution and international human rights frameworks.

    The organisations also highlighted the humanitarian consequences of the crisis, including разрушed communities and lack of justice for victims, warning that persistent impunity continues to erode public trust in government institutions.

    Referencing the 2026 global theme by UNESCO, “Shaping a Future of Peace,” they emphasised the central role of a free and independent media in fostering stability and sustainable development.

    They noted that Sections 22 and 39 of the Nigerian Constitution mandate the media to hold government accountable and guarantee freedom of expression, urging authorities not only to refrain from interference but also to actively protect journalists.

    Among their recommendations, SERAP and NGE called for thorough and independent investigations into human rights violations, prosecution of offenders and their sponsors, and effective remedies for victims, including compensation and rehabilitation.

    They also urged the Federal Government to improve transparency in security operations, establish public reporting systems for tracking incidents and responses, and collaborate with international bodies for independent fact-finding missions.

    The groups further appealed to the National Assembly to exercise its oversight powers by convening public hearings on insecurity and attacks on journalists, with a view to strengthening legal protections and accountability mechanisms.

    Speaking at the event, human rights lawyer Femi Falana described impunity as a major driver of violence, warning that any government that fails to protect its citizens undermines its legitimacy.

    He emphasised that journalists play a vital role in exposing abuses, preventing violence, and strengthening democracy, adding that they should be seen as partners rather than adversaries.

    The event brought together media executives, editors, and civil society actors, all of whom expressed commitment to advancing press freedom and ensuring accountability in Nigeria’s governance and security systems.

  • Falana Insists on Halting Campaigns to Preserve Governance

    Falana Insists on Halting Campaigns to Preserve Governance

    Femi Falana SAN, Chair of the Alliance on Surviving COVID-19 and Beyond (ASCAB), has called for an immediate suspension of political campaigns in Nigeria, urging elected officials to prioritize governance over early electioneering. He expressed concern that some parties have already begun campaigns nearly ten months ahead of the scheduled elections.

    Falana highlighted that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has set the presidential and national assembly elections for January 16, 2027, and governorship and state assembly elections for February 6, 2027. He warned that premature campaigning is diverting attention from essential governance responsibilities.

    The rights lawyer noted that early campaigns have worsened insecurity, including kidnappings and killings, weakened accountability, and exacerbated poverty. He also pointed out that huge public funds are being misused for illegal political activities, while some state governments have failed to contribute to federal matching grants for education.

    Falana reminded political actors of Section 98(1) of the Electoral Act, 2026, which restricts public campaigning to 150 days before elections and mandates a 24-hour campaign silence before polling. He called on INEC, the Nigeria Police Force, and the State Security Service (SSS) to enforce the law.

    Stressing the importance of governance, Falana urged political actors to cease premature campaign activities, emphasizing that the administration of the country must take precedence over early political celebrations.

  • Falana -Nigeria Should Not Rely on Dangote Refinery Alone

    Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has criticised Nigeria’s growing reliance on the Dangote Refinery for fuel supply, questioning the continued inactivity of the country’s four government-owned refineries. Falana raised the concern during an interview on the Politics Today programme on Channels Television.

    Falana wondered why the state-owned refineries remain largely dormant despite billions of dollars reportedly spent on their rehabilitation over the years. According to him, the situation suggests that the country has shifted its dependence to the privately owned refinery while public facilities are no longer being discussed or utilised.

    He noted that about 2.9 billion dollars had reportedly been spent on the maintenance and rehabilitation of the refineries without visible results, raising concerns about accountability and governance in the nation’s oil sector. Falana therefore urged the Federal Government to review the management of Nigeria’s refining capacity and ensure the state-owned facilities become operational.

    The senior lawyer also called for stronger domestic institutions, especially in the security sector, warning that Nigeria must reduce its reliance on foreign powers for stability and national development.

    Commenting on global tensions involving the United States, Israel and Iran, Falana criticised the actions of Donald Trump, accusing him of disregarding international law and United Nations resolutions. He urged Nigeria to work with other nations and engage major powers such as Russia and China through diplomacy to help ease the escalating crisis while reviving the country’s tradition of multilateral engagement.

  • Falana: Labour Rights Are Constitutional, Not Acts of Sabotage

    Falana: Labour Rights Are Constitutional, Not Acts of Sabotage

    Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has reaffirmed the constitutional and legal rights of Nigerian workers to unionise and embark on strike actions, describing recent attempts to discredit labour unions as “legally baseless and morally irresponsible.”

    Speaking during an interview with ARISE News on Monday, Falana cited Section 40 of the Nigerian Constitution, which guarantees freedom of association, and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions 87 and 98 — both of which Nigeria has ratified — as the foundation for workers’ rights to unionise and engage in collective bargaining.

    His comments follow the recent standoff between the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the management of Dangote Refinery over allegations of anti-labour practices, including the dismissal of workers who joined the union. The dispute triggered a nationwide strike threat, which was later suspended after federal intervention.

    Falana said the crisis was entirely avoidable if both the government and employers had respected labour laws. “When workers are forced to strike over issues that were settled since the colonial era, the blame lies with the government,” he noted.

    He dismissed claims that oil and gas unions were sabotaging the economy, stressing that organised labour has been a cornerstone of Nigeria’s development for over a century. “The first trade union in Nigeria was formed in 1912 — even before the amalgamation of 1914. It’s too late in the day to say unions should not exist,” he said.

    Falana maintained that strikes are a legitimate last resort when employers refuse to negotiate in good faith. He also debunked the notion that union leaders misuse workers’ funds, insisting that check-off dues are used to support members in need.

    Urging the government to treat unions as partners rather than adversaries, Falana concluded, “Labour rights are not privileges; they are fundamental to democracy. To allow unionisation is to acknowledge that workers are stakeholders in the nation’s progress.”

  • Binani’s acceptance speech confirms she’s party to illegal declaration – Falana

    Binani’s acceptance speech confirms she’s party to illegal declaration – Falana


    Fiery lawyer and activist, Femi Falana (SAN), has said that the Adamawa State gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Aisha ‘Binani’ Dahiru’s acceptance speech confirmed that she was in on the illegal declaration.

    Falana stated this in an interview on Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily on Thursday.

    The SAN described Binani’s declaration and her acceptance speech as a ”charade”.

    He said: ”With respect to the acceptance speech, it already confirmed that she was party to the charade. She has to be brought in by the police and investigated.

    “How did you prepare a speech if you did not know that you were going to be declared the winner because, at that stage, the collation had not been concluded?

    “The last point is the role of NTA. The NTA televised the acceptance speech. I expect the NBC to move in speedily and sanction the NTA because, at that time, collation was still ongoing.”

    Recall that the Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, Hudu Yunusa, had declared Binani winner of the state guber election.

    However, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, reversed the purported declaration of Binani as the winner of the Adamawa election by the REC.

    The Commission said the action of the REC was a move to usurp the power of the Returning Officer. It further declared it null, void and of no effect.

    Meanwhile, Falana has demanded that Binani be investigated by the police.

  • 2023 Presidential election marred by manipulation of results– Falana

    2023 Presidential election marred by manipulation of results– Falana


    A human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), has said that the 2023 presidential election was marred by result manipulations.

    Falana stated this during an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today.

    Other factors, according to the lawyer, that marred the elections included insecurity, late arrival of materials, violence and thuggary.

    Recall INEC has declared Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the presidential election, but the two other leading political parties in the election, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP), have since rejected the results.

    Falana said, “The presidential and National Assembly elections were marred by insecurity in many places, late arrival of materials, violence and thuggary and manipulation of the results.

    “INEC has admitted that there were logistic and technological challenges. Nobody is saying that the election was perfectly conducted. There are challenges.

    “INEC should go back to the drawing table and fine-tune its strategy. They said they painstakingly made plans to conduct elections, but the implementation had some challenges. To me, this is an admission on the part of INEC.”

  • Half salary: FG provoking lecturers – Falana

    Half salary: FG provoking lecturers – Falana


    A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr Femi Falana on Tuesday asked the Federal Government to stop provoking members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities in a dispute over wages.

    Falana, speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today, said the lecturers should be paid their full salaries for months they were on a strike action.

    ASUU members were on strike between February and October, crippling academic activities in public universities across the country.

    The academics called off their eight-month strike on October 14 after the National Industrial Court ordered the lecturers to resume.

    In early November, the Federal Government paid half-salaries for the month of October, angering the academics.

    “The doctrine of ‘no work, no pay’ is totally inapplicable to” ASUU members, Mr Falana, a counsel to ASUU, said on Tuesday.

    He argued that the lecturers still have to cover the work missed between February and October.

    “We are asking all Nigerians who mounted pressure on ASUU to call off the strike . . . all of us have a duty to prevail on the government to stop provoking the lecturers,” Mr Falana said.

  • Buhari should urgently approve N200bn for ASUU to end strike – Falana

    Buhari should urgently approve N200bn for ASUU to end strike – Falana


    Human rights activist and senior lawyer, Femi Falana, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to submit a supplementary budget for the appropriation of the sum of N200 billion required to revamp federal universities across the country.

    According to Mr Falana, this will go a long way in ending the months-long strike of the Academic Staff Union of Universities that has paralysed public universities since February.

    Mr Falana said President Buhari’s recent lament over the prolonged strike was unnecessary.

    He also faulted the Federal Government’s claim that it does not have the funds to meet ASUU’s demands, noting that the government has allocated trillions to address issues such as fuel subsidy and agriculture policy.

  • Open Grazing: We’ve gone beyond looking for grazing routes, we need a modern solution – Femi Falana

    Open Grazing: We’ve gone beyond looking for grazing routes, we need a modern solution – Femi Falana

    Human rights activist, Femi Falana has faulted the Presidency’s approval to review grazing reserves in 25 states in the country.

    The Senior Advocate of Nigeria who was a guest on Channels TV’s Sunday Politics, said the country has gone beyond looking for grazing routes and should be looking for a modern approach.

    Falana also pointed out that the Northern Governor Forum, the Southern Governors Forum, and even the Miyetti Allah group have all come to a conclusion that open grazing is obsolete.

    He said;

    “As far as the law is concerned, the President cannot, (with profound respect), be talking of looking for grazing routes in 2021, Nigeria.

    “The Northern Governor Forum, the Southern Governors Forum, and even the Miyetti Allah group have all come to a conclusion that open grazing is obsolete.

    “We need a national resolution of this crisis. We need a scientific solution. We need a modern solution to this problem.

    “State governors are already investing in ranching”.

  • We are in trouble if INEC is not allowed to transmit election results electronically – Falana

    We are in trouble if INEC is not allowed to transmit election results electronically – Falana

    Human rights lawyer and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana has said that the country will be in trouble if the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is stopped from transmitting election results electronically.

    Falana who asked Nigerians to demand for the right thing to be done in an interview on Channels Television, cited Section 52 of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill which gives INEC unchallenged powers to device any process to guarantee that everybody is able to vote.

    He said;

    “By virtue of Section 52 of the Electoral Act amended in 2015, INEC is given unchallenged powers to device any process to guarantee that everybody is able to vote and so INEC is empowered to transmit results electronically.

    “When you now put it in the law that INEC shall not transmit election results electronically, we are in trouble. I’m sure that Nigerians are going to continue to demand that proper thing is done in order to ensure that the process we are putting in place will guarantee fair and free election.”

    The senior lawyer also condemned plans to prevent election results declared by INEC under duress from being discared.

    Falana urged Nigerians to tell their representatives in the National Assembly not to sabotage the electoral process.