Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has called on Nigeria’s legislative institutions to institutionalise Human Rights Impact Assessment (HRIA) in the lawmaking process, warning that legislation enacted without adequate scrutiny, consultation and rights analysis could undermine fundamental freedoms and erode public confidence in democratic institutions.
The Executive Secretary of the Commission, Tony Ojukwu, SAN, made the call in his address on Wednesday, at a one-day training for legislators on mainstreaming human rights and Human Rights Impact Assessment into the legislative process and legislation, held in Port Harcourt.
Ojukwu said the training, organised by the NHRC, was aimed at strengthening collaboration between the Commission and legislative institutions while equipping lawmakers with tools to ensure that proposed laws comply with constitutional, regional and international human rights standards.
He said: “The legislature is the guardian of democratic governance. The quality of any democracy is reflected not only in the number of laws it produces, but in the quality, inclusiveness and human rights compliance of those laws.”
