(SINL NIGERIA) The House of Representatives has promised to take the necessary steps to ensure an improvement in the 2025 budget of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), pointing out that the N5 billion approved for it in the 2024 budget is inadequate considering the myriad of human rights violations in the country.
The House is also working towards the passage of the Human Rights Defenders Bill into law, saying that it has already passed the first reading and will soon be subjected to the second reading.
The Chairman House Committee on Human Rights, Hon. Abiola Makinde made the disclosure during the oversight visit of the committee to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
The Chairman who was represented at the occasion by his Deputy, Hon. Mudashiru Lukman assured the NHRC that the Committee would continue to advance the course of human rights in Nigeria by ensuring that the House of Representatives passes critical Bills on human rights issues as well as makes adequate budgetary provisions to ease the work of the Commission.
Hon. Makinde stated that in a bid to improve some aspects of Civil and Political Rights, the House of Representatives had ensured the establishment of human rights desks in all police formations and Headquarters across the 36 States of the Federation.
Earlier, the Executive Secretary of the NHRC, Dr. Tony Ojukwu SAN who received the lawmakers with his management staff told the Human Rights Committee that the Commission relies heavily on them for the enactment of human rights friendly laws and enhanced budgetary provisions to discharge it broad mandate of promotion, protection and enforcement of human rights in the country.
The learned Silk used the opportunity to commend the legislators for their role in the amendment of the NHRC Act 2010 as well as the support of the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila in the payment of compensation to victims of human rights violations by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) unit of the Nigeria Police Force.
Additionally, he informed the legislators about the recent report released by the Commission following the findings of the Special Independent Investigative Panel on Human Rights Violations in Counter-Insurgency Operations in the North East Nigeria , which he noted has saved the country from possible invitation by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
He noted that the aforementioned wide spread allegations of human rights infractions against some government institutions could result in the ICC extending invitations to some of the leaders to respond to the allegations, but the Commission has done the needful in compliance with the international principles.
