Dino Melaye’s Suit Challenging the Infectious Disease Bill Rejected in Court

Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Tuesday, dismissed a suit filed by Senator Dino Melaye, challenging some provisions of the controversial Control of Infectious Diseases Bill 2020, also known as the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Bill.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the respondents in the suit are the Clerk of the National Assembly, the Clerk of the House of Representatives, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and the Inspector-General of Police (IGP).

In Ojukwu’s judgment, she held that her court lacked the jurisdiction to hear and determine issues raised in the suit. She also stated that the issues raised in the suit was not justiciable, as a Bill could not be a subject of litigation until it becomes a law.

On 5th May 2020, Melaye, who represented Kogi South Senatorial District in the Eight Senate, filed the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/463/2020, requesting the court to delete sections 5, 8, 15, 16 and 17 of the bill which according to him constituted a violation or would likely violate his rights under the Nigerian Constitution, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights as well the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights.

Melaye faulted sections of the bill, seeking to empower the Director-General of the NCDC to force  anyone to take medical examination or treatment and also collect the blood sample of such person in the case of a public health emergency. He also questioned the provision in the bill that seeks to empower the NCDC to take over any premises and turn them into Isolation centers without compensation for the owner.