The Executive Secretary National of the Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Tony Ojukwu (SAN) has expressed optimism that President Muhammadu Buhari will sign the “National Human Rights Commission Bill 2022 recently passed by the Senate, as soon as it is presented for his assent.
Ojukwu who stated this over the weekend said the signing of the bill entitled, “National Human Rights Commission Act 2004 (Repeal and Enactment) Bill 2022″ by Mr President will be one of the giant achievements of the present administration in the area of human rights promotion and protection in the country.
According to the NHRC boss, “the bill will address the issue of inadequate powers and funding that have hindered the effective operation and functioning of the Commission since its establishment in 1995.”
“In the face of these challenges, the Commission is making efforts to better human rights protection as it grapples with numerous complaints that come before it on a daily basis,” the NHRC Boss said.
According to Ojukwu, “it is expected that when the law is finally signed by the President, it will sustain the grade ‘A’ status of Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission as rated by the Global Alliance of Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) in recognition of its compliance with the provisions of the Paris Principles.”
He lauded the lawmakers saying that the passage of the National Human Rights Commission Act 2004 (Repeal and Enactment) Bill 2022 in the Senate complements the passage of a similar bill in the House of Representatives in 2021
Objectives of the Bill are contained in the report presented by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Senator Bamidele Opeyemi, who noted that the idea is to reposition and streamline the Institutional framework of the National Human Rights Commission for improved performance.
Speaking on the Bill, the lawmaker said adequate funding of the Commission as envisaged in the Bill would strengthen the Commission’s investigative capacity while enabling it to support CSOs who share a similar mandate with the Commission to carry out their various human rights activities.
According to the lawmaker, the Bill also makes specific provisions for the establishment of the National Human Rights Fund in the National Budget as well as provides effective means of sustaining contributions to the Fund.
“A virile and enduring democratic value system cannot be fully entrenched in Nigeria if we do not have an Independent and incorruptible human rights Institution with adequate funding mechanisms free from unnecessary interference from the Government,” Senator Opeyemi added.
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