Thread by @SERAPNigeria

SERAP has sent an urgent appeal to President @MBuhari urging him to urgently instruct the AGF & Minister of Justice Mr Abukabar Malami, SAN to work with appropriate ministries & agencies to identify, publish & use confiscated stolen assets as isolation centres.
#Covid19Nigeria

Using confiscated assets as isolation centres would provide safe and enabling environments for the treatment and care of people, improve the authorities’ ability to respond to COVID-19, reduce the risks to Nigerians and to public health.

The Minister of Health, @DrEOEhanire had last week reportedly begged Nigerians to donate & temporarily make their buildings available as isolation centres. According to him, more buildings would be needed, as @NCDCgov aims to test two million people in the next three months

While it is important to ramp-up testing for COVID-19 to prevent the spread of the virus, asking Nigerians to donate their buildings as isolation centres would be counter-productive, as it would put them at greater risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19

Rather than begging Nigerians to donate their buildings as isolation centres, the authorities should identify, publish and use confiscated assets as isolation centres, as a temporary measure.

Using confiscated assets as isolation centres would be proportionate, necessary, and serve a legitimate objective, namely to protect public health and public order (ordre public).

The proposed measure would be lawful, and more effective, as it would be in the public interest

Using the confiscated assets as proposed would neither violate the accused’s right to property nor entail a duty to compensate. The proposal by the Minister of Health would pose unnecessary risks to public health

We urge President @MBuhari to ask Mr Malami to urgently work out the details and modalities for implementing these recommendations with the @Fmohnigeria , @NCDCgov , the @officialEFCC and @ICPC_PE

We urge Mr @MBuhari to ask @DrEOEhanire to drop the idea of begging Nigerians to donate their buildings as isolation centres, and to move swiftly to focus on implementing these recommendations as a step towards effectively reducing the spread of COVID-19, ...

...treating and caring for people, and fulfilling the right to health, in line with Nigeria’s human rights obligations and the sustainable development goals

Our recommendations, apart from being entirely compatible with Nigeria’s international anti-corruption obligations including UN Convention against Corruption, which has been ratified,would also enhance ability of the authorities to effectively & satisfactorily respond to COVID-19

Reducing health risks associated with Nigerians donating their buildings as isolation centres would complement the authorities’ objectives of ending COVID-19

As the right to health is closely related to and dependent upon the realization of other human rights, including the right to private and family life, asking Nigerians to donate their buildings as isolation centres may also violate this fundamental human right

The recommendations would also enhance the ability of the authorities to effectively implement the country’s international human rights obligations particularly regarding to take effective steps to prevent, treat, and combat epidemic, endemic and other diseases, such as COVID-19

Our request is also in line with the repeated public commitment by @MBuhari's government to provide details and locations of all recovered stolen public funds

Publishing confiscated assets would also be entirely consistent with the judgment by Justice Hadiza Rabiu Shagari of the Federal High Court, Lagos, which ordered your government to tell Nigerians about the stolen assets it allegedly recovered

The judgment was delivered in July 2017 following a Freedom of Information suit number: FHC/CS/964/2016 brought by SERAP. Your government has refused to obey the judgment, despite Mr Malami publicly promising to do so

We hope that the aspects highlighted will help guide president @MBuhari's actions in acting to ensure enabling environments as isolation centres to treat and care for Nigerians, as the NCDC takes steps to ramp up testing for COVID-19.

Copied in the urgent appeal are: Mr Abukabar Malami; @DrEOEhanire ; @Chikwe_I Director General, NCDC; Professor Bolaji Owasanoye, Chairman, ICPC; and Ibrahim Mustafa Magu, Acting Chairman, @officialEFCC