#ENDSARS panel member, Adegboruwa, tackles Lagos govt over claim of funds mismanagement

A member of the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry, Ebun-Oluwa Adegboruwa on Wednesday accused the state Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice, Moyosore Onigbanjo, of dishonesty over the handling of the White Papers on the #ENDSARS protest in the state.

The state government released the White Paper on the #ENDSARS saga on Tuesday.

In the document, the government accepted 11 out of the panel’s 32 recommendations, modified six, and outrightly rejected one.

It also resolved to send 14 other recommendations which fall outside the power of the state to the Federal Government for consideration.

Adegboruwa, who reacted to the release of the White Paper in a statement titled: “#EndSARS Panel Report: The Siege Is Over,” said the panel was not informed before the release of the document.

The lawyer also dismissed the commissioner’s claim on mismanagement of funds by the panel.

He said: “On November 30, 2021, the government released two separate White Papers, to the general public. The panel was not informed of this action and it was not availed copies of the said White Papers, till this moment.

“The Committee that reviewed the Reports of the Panel and which produced the White Papers was headed by the Honourable Attorney-General of Lagos State.

“On December 1, 2021, the Honourable Attorney-General of Lagos State was a guest on Arise Television, where he took time to discuss the Reports of the Panel and the contents of the White Papers that his Committee produced. The impression was also created that the panel mismanaged funds released to it.

“It has become necessary therefore for me and all other Members of the Panel to study the White Papers and make appropriate responses thereto. There will be no holds barred, since the government itself has opened the doors for public scrutiny of the report and the White Papers.

“For the records, the Panel relied upon the evidence of witnesses, documents tendered before it and the goodwill of the people of Nigeria, throughout its assignment.

READ ALSO: Lagos #ENDSARS panel report out; govt accepts 11, modifies 6, rejects one of 32 recommendations

“It is painful for me and the Panel that the government is creating the wrong impression of financial impropriety as a tool of distraction when the Panel had a Secretariat that managed all its funds, through the Ministry of Justice.

“Although I served on the Panel free of charge without collecting a dime, I know as a fact that other members served sacrificially, giving up their time, families, and careers for a whole year.

“At the appropriate time, we will respond to all the inaccuracies, the coverups, and the inconsistencies contained in the White Papers released by the government.

“Assuredly, nothing can ever cover the truth. What happened at the Lekki Toll Gate on October 20, 2020, was already in the public domain, those who received the bullets knew what happened and the doctors that treated them knew what happened. The Panel reports only confirmed what most Nigerians already knew.”

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