Reintroducing monthly sanitation in Lagos State is contemptuous – Falana

2026-03-15 - 20:46

By Femi Falana, SAN The decision of the Lagos State Government to reintroduce the sanitation exercise where the movement of Lagos residents is restricted for 3 hours during the last Saturday of every month is a sad reminder of one of the primitive legacies of the defunct military junta in Nigeria. The planned reintroduction of the monthly sanitation exercise cannot be justified in view of the fact that in the 2026 Appropriation Law of Lagos, the sum of N236 billion was earmarked for the environment, including urban waste management and sanitation. Indeed, the members of the Lagos State House of Assembly unanimously voted for better waste management techniques. Instead of wasting precious time and resources on enforcing the illegal monthly sanitation exercise, the Lagos State Government ought to engage more cleaners and acquire mechanical sweepers for heavy debris and vacuum sweepers for fine dust and litter. However, we are compelled to draw the attention of the Lagos State Government to the case of Faith Okafor v Lagos State Government (2016) 48 E-WRN / 104 (CA) wherein the appellant was arrested for violating the restriction of movement directive on the 25th May, 2013 as it was the last Saturday in the month of May, a day set aside for the cleaning of the environment with the attendant restriction in movement between the hours of seven and ten in the forenoon. She was bundled into a Black Maria with other persons who were arrested and arraigned before the special offences court. She pleaded guilty and was convicted and fined N2,000.00 for wandering, loitering, and walking about in defiance of the monthly compulsory environmental sanitation exercise. The appellant paid the fine and subsequently instituted proceedings at the High Court of Lagos State for the enforcement of her fundamental rights to the dignity of human person, personal liberty, and freedom of movement. The High Court dismissed the appellant’s application in its entirety. Dissatisfied, the appellant appealed to the Court of Appeal.The Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, ruled in her favour, holding that the restriction of movement during environmental sanitation hours is illegal and unconstitutional. It was further held that a directive from a governor is not a law, and therefore, the arrest, prosecution, and conviction of the Appellant amounted to a violation of her fundamental rights. In his remarkable contribution to the leading judgment of the Court of Appeal, Biobell Abraham Georgewill J.C.A. held as follows: “It is my view that democracy thrives more on obeying and promoting the rule of law rather than the whims and caprices of the leaders against the lead. I find the conduct of the Respondent in not only persecuting the Appellant, yes that is what in my view it amounts to when a free Citizen of this great Country such as Citizen Faith Okafor, is put through the rigours of criminal process for an offence not prescribed in any written law but merely on the directive of the Governor of the Lagos State. An action which if allowed to thrive in a democracy such as ours could confer on such office holders infinite, absolute and autocratic powers contrary to the clear provisions of the Constitution of the land, to which both the leaders and the led are subject. I refuse to allow such autocratic, absolute, and infinite powers to fester upon our nascent democracy.” The Lagos State Government should not reintroduce the monthly sanitation exercise as it is highly contemptuous of the Court of Appeal.