Supreme Court Reserves Judgement in Govs’ Suit Challenging EFCC’s Legal Stand

*Anambra, Adamawa, Ebonyi withdraw from case

Alex Enumah in Abuja

The Supreme Court, has reserved its judgement in the suit challenging the constitutionality of the laws establishing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and two other anti-graft agencies.
A seven-member panel of the apex court led by Justice Uwani Aba-Aji, adjourned for judgement to a date that would be communicated to parties, after they all adopted their written addresses as their arguments for and against the suit.
Meanwhile, Anambra, Adamawa and Ebonyi States at Tuesday’s proceedings sought the leave of the apex court to withdraw as co-plaintiffs in the suit.
The suit marked: SC/CV/178/2023 was originally filed by the Attorney-General of Kogi State before being joined by 15 others.
The plaintiffs had predicated their case on a judgement of the Supreme Court, in the matter of Dr. Joseph Nwobike Vs Federal Republic of Nigeria, wherein the apex court had held that it was a United Nation Convention against corruption that was reduced into the EFCC Establishment Act and that in enacting this law in 2004, the provision of Section 12 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, was not followed.
The argument was that, in bringing a convention into the Nigerian law, the provision of Section 12 which stipulates that majority of the states’ houses of assembly must ratify the law must be complied with.
The argument of the states in the present suit, which they had reportedly corroborated by the Supreme Court in the previous case mentioned, is that the law, as enacted, could not be applied to states that never approved of it, in accordance with the provisions of the constitution.
They argued that any institution so formed on the basis of reducing UN Convention to law, should be regarded as an illegal institution.
At yesterday’s proceedings, the apex court held that its judgement would apply to Imo, Bauchi, Ogun and Osun States.
The Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, who was present in court as the Defendant, craved the court’s indulgence to take the process they filed yesterday morning.
Abba-Aji thereby granted leave to the defendant to use the reply on point of law filed on Tuesday.
Mohammed Abdulwahab, SAN, who appeared for the 1st Plaintiff, pointed out that the amended processes filed by the AGF were different from what had initially been filed, noting that he had to refile his processes to answer to the fresh issues and facts.

The old processes were therefore struck out.

Yesterday, the number of states challenging the constitutionality of the EFCC and others had climbed to 19, including Kogi State, despite the withdrawal of three states.

The court ruled that the judgement on Kogi State would be applied to Ogun, Nasarawa and Osun states that had earlier applied for consolidation.

The states in the suit Vs AGF are Kogi, Kebbi, Katsina, Sokoto, Jigawa, Enugu, Oyo, Benue, Plateau, Cross River, Ondo, Niger, Edo, Bauchi, Imo, Osun, Nasarawa, Ogun, Taraba.