FOLLOWING the backlash from lawyers and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) over the lockdown order by President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday March 29, the president has signed a regulation that gives the decision a force of the law.

Femi Adeshina, the Special Adviser to the President on Media & Publicity, said the COVID-19 regulation has been passed and effective since Monday, March 30, 2020.

This regulation gives legal backing to the total lockdown of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Lagos and Ogun states.

He said the signing of the regulation by the president is a conferment by the section 2,3 and 4 of the Quarantine Act.

“In exercise of the powers conferred on him by Sections 2, 3 and 4 of the Quarantine Act (CAP Q2 LFN 2004), and all other powers enabling him in that behalf, President Muhammadu Buhari, Monday, signed the COVID-19  Regulations, 2020, which  declared Covid-19 a dangerous infectious disease”.

“The Regulations, effective March 30, 2020, also gave legal backing to the various measures outlined in the President’s National Broadcast on March 29, 2020, such as Restriction/Cessation of Movement in Lagos, FCT and Ogun State and others toward containing the spread of the pandemic in the country”.

The statement explained that the law gives exception to online transactions and the use of automated teller machines

Waiver is  also extended to financial system and money markets to allow “very skeletal operations in order to keep the system in light operations during the pendency of these regulations.”

TheICIR earlier reported how Civil Society Alliance Against Covid-19 (CSAA-COVID-19) advised the Federal Government to use the period of the lockdown in the two states and the FCT to strengthen health systems, radically improve protection for health and essential workers, and massively scale up capacity to test for COVID19.

The Centre also reported how a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Ebun-olu Adegboruwa criticised the legality of pesident’s decision to restrict movement in Abuja, Lagos and Ogun States.

According to him, the president lacks the power to solely declare state of emergency  in any state of the Nigerian Federation without approval from the National Assembly.