Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, says Nigeria has appealed to the federal government to elevate socio-economic rights from mere aspirations to enforceable guarantees in its quest to checkmate insecurity in the country.

Falana made this declaration while presenting a paper titled ‘Citizens’ rights and security concerns’ at the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) annual general conference held in Enugu on Tuesday.

He maintained that the non-justiciability of socio-economic rights entrenched in the constitution undermines both democracy and stability.
The lawyer added that inequality, where the current constitutional framework creates a “two-tier system where civil and political rights can be enjoyed by the well-off, while socio-economic guarantees remain paper promises for the poor”, is a security threat.

Falana faulted the judiciary for the “misleading claim that fundamental objectives and directive principles are not enforceable”, pointing to regional and domestic pathways that courts and lawyers can utilise.

“The socio-economic rights enshrined in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights are enforceable in domestic courts. They are also justiciable before the ECOWAS Court,” Falana said.

The senior advocate of Nigeria also urged the NBA to champion litigation and advocacy to break the barrier of non-justiciability.

“The Bar must lead a campaign for the enforcement of socio-economic rights guaranteed by the African Charter,” he said.