A member of the #EndSARS Lagos State Judicial Panel, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, has responded to an unnamed senior counsel to the state government who cast aspersions on his integrity over his appearances at the hearings.
Adegboruwa made this clarification on Friday via a statement ‘EndSARS Panel: I Acted on The Mandate of The Governor.’
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria, who refused to name the critic, revealed that the said person had urged Nigerians to reject the report of the panel because he (Adegboruwa) signed it and was not present at some of the sittings.
He also said, “There are documents to back up and defend the report submitted to the governor by the panel, but I have chosen to defer to His Excellency and to await the White Paper as promised because I believe that the governor meant well in setting up the panel and giving us free hand to operate.
There is no minority report from the panel as the report submitted to the governor on November 15, 2021, was unanimously endorsed by all members of the panel, who worked tirelessly, day and night, to serve the government and the people, even at great risks to their health, personal safety, career and family obligations, and their general well-being.
I’m very sure that panel members would have been lionised to the highest heavens if we had bought into the narrative of the government before the panel that it was criminals, cultists, hoodlums, and unknown gunmen that operated at the Lekki Toll Gate on October 20, 2020.
All Panel members acted in good faith, independently and in the fear of God Almighty. My principled struggles in respect of toll fee collection started way back from 2011, almost nine years before the Panel was inaugurated.
“Indeed, the governor said that these were the factors that favoured my selection as a member of the panel. Will I then deny myself, forfeit my reputation and discredit my constituency, my colleagues in the Nigerian Bar Association, and comrades in civil society, in order to please anybody or cover up the truth? NEVER!”
“I urge the government to focus on the findings and far-reaching recommendations contained in the report, in order to pursue the laudable objectives of setting up the panel to achieve true healing and reconciliation, instead of seeking to demonise panel members and their report or to evade responsibility,” the senior advocate said.
