FEATURE: Lagos Faces Fresh Legal Battle Over Sanitation Policy

The Lagos State Government has announced that there will be “controlled movement” during its reintroduced monthly environmental sanitation exercise, a move that may reopen legal challenges against the programme.

The exercise, scheduled to be held on the last Saturday of every month between 6:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., is set to commence on April 25, 2026.

In a post on X on Wednesday, the Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, said the initiative followed a symbolic flag-off along the Mushin-Agege Motor Road corridor on March 14.

He explained that the sanitation window would involve restrictions aimed at enabling residents to clean their homes, surroundings, and drainage frontages.

“During this period, there will be controlled movement across the state to allow residents to carry out thorough cleaning of their homes, surroundings and drainage frontages,” Wahab said.

According to him, enforcement officers from the ministry, the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency, Kick Against Indiscipline, Lagos Waste Management Authority, and local government sanitation inspectors will monitor compliance through physical inspections during and after the exercise.

He added that defaulters would be sanctioned in line with the Lagos State Environmental Management and Protection Law of 2017, while LAWMA trucks would be deployed to evacuate waste generated during the exercise.

Wahab also disclosed that incentives would be introduced to reward the cleanest Local Government Area, Local Council Development Area, and streets as part of efforts to encourage participation.

“We urge all residents to take ownership of this exercise and join hands with the government in building a cleaner, safer and more sustainable Lagos,” he added.

Legal Concerns

The introduction of “controlled movement” has, however, raised fresh legal concerns, given an existing Court of Appeal ruling against restriction of movement during sanitation exercises.

Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, criticised earlier attempts to make the exercise compulsory, citing the appellate court’s decision.

“People were asked to stay at home for three hours. Don’t go out because you must clean your house. No, now. Then we told them, you can’t do this, (because) there’s a judgment of the Court of Appeal against compulsory monthly sanitation,” Falana said at a recent press conference in Lagos attended by THE WHISTLER.

“But when people said no, the government has now changed it to voluntary monthly sanitation exercise. But they wanted to make it compulsory before so they can arrest people and prosecute them.”

According to Falana, the government allocated over N250bn in the 2026 budget for environmental sanitation in the state.

Appeal Court Judgment

In November 2016, the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, declared the restriction of movement during environmental sanitation illegal, ruling that the state government lacked the legal basis to limit residents’ movement.

Justice Ugochukwu Ogakwu, who read the judgment, held that, in the absence of a valid law, the directive compelling residents to remain indoors during sanitation hours violated fundamental rights to dignity, personal liberty, and freedom of movement.

The case was filed by Faith Okafor, who challenged her arrest and detention for an alleged sanitation offence.

The court also restrained the state government and its agencies from arresting or prosecuting residents over sanitation-related offences except in strict compliance with constitutional provisions.

“I have arrived at the inexorable conclusion that the appeal is meritorious. The same succeeds and is allowed by me. The Ruling of the lower court in Suit No. M/548/2013: FAITH OKAFOR vs. LAGOS STATE GOVERNMENT & ANOR. delivered on 1st July 2014 is hereby set aside,” Justice Ogakwu declared.

“In its stead and for good order sake, judgment is hereby entered for the Appellant against the Respondents in the following terms: It is hereby declared that the arrest and detention and transportation of the Appellant in the back of a vehicle which is of a metal cage with very little ventilation and light “Black Maria” by officials and/or agents of the 1st Respondent (KAI Brigade) on 25th May 2013 for a purported environmental sanitation offence violates the Appellant’s fundamental rights to respect for the dignity of her person, personal liberty and freedom of movement as provided under Sections 34, 35 and 41 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended, and is therefore illegal and unconstitutional.”

Following the ruling, the state government suspended the monthly sanitation exercise.

Conflicting Positions

Despite the judgment, the state government has maintained that the ruling supports its position.

In June 2025, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, told THE WHISTLER that the Court of Appeal verdict was in favour of the state, a claim that has remained contentious.

Meanwhile, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu had earlier stated that the reintroduced sanitation exercise would be voluntary and would not involve movement restrictions.

He emphasised that the initiative was aimed at reviving a culture of collective responsibility among residents for environmental cleanliness.

“Today, we are bringing back the era where we will all take collective responsibility for the cleanliness of our environment,” the governor said.

Uncertain Legal Ground

With the government now introducing “controlled movement,” it is likely that the policy could face renewed litigation over whether it amounts to a restriction already declared unconstitutional by the courts.

Wahab did not clarify how the “controlled movement” would be enforced without violating the appellate court ruling, exposing the policy to a potential legal showdown over the limits of state powers in enforcing environmental sanitation.