The Supreme Court will today deliver its judgment on a suit filed by 19 state governments challenging the constitutionality of the laws establishing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Both the governors and the EFCC are awaiting the court’s ruling, which will either affirm or deny the legal foundation of the anti-corruption body.
The state governments argue that the Supreme Court, in Dr. Joseph Nwobike vs. Federal Republic of Nigeria, ruled that the EFCC was founded on a United Nations Convention against corruption. They claim that when the EFCC Establishment Act was passed in 2004, the National Assembly did not comply with Section 12 of the 1999 Constitution, which requires the approval of state assemblies before a convention can be incorporated into Nigerian law. The plaintiffs assert that the EFCC Act was never properly ratified by the required majority of state assemblies, thus rendering the commission’s legal framework void in states that did not consent to it.
The case was initiated by Kogi State and has since been joined by Ondo, Edo, Oyo, Ogun, Nasarawa, Kebbi, Katsina, Sokoto, Jigawa, Enugu, Benue, Anambra, Plateau, Cross-River, and Niger states. The suit contends that, without proper legal ratification, the EFCC is an illegal institution.
A seven-member Supreme Court panel, led by Justice Uwani Abba-Aji, is set to hear the matter today, October 22.
In response, the EFCC has expressed dismay over the lawsuit. Wilson Uwujaren, the EFCC’s Director of Public Affairs, stated during an appearance on Channels Television that those behind the suit are “feeling the heat of [the EFCC’s] work.” He said:
“We are shocked by what is happening. Nigerians should see through this shenanigan and oppose it because I don’t see how this country can survive without the EFCC, given the kind of corruption problem that we have. Nigeria cannot do without the EFCC.
“I am worried that, with the kind of problem we have with corruption in this country, some people would go to court to challenge the legality of the EFCC.
“For citizens in their states, I am not sure that the EFCC is their greatest problem. I doubt that this is the case. What you see playing out is simply people who are feeling the heat of the work of the EFCC and who want to derail what is going on within the EFCC.
“They see the EFCC as a threat, which is what is playing out. I think Nigerians can see through the gimmick of those who are behind the challenge to the legality of the commission,” Uwujaren said.
The EFCC official noted that those behind the call for the overhaul were determined to “derail” the commission’s anti-corruption fight.
“So, people who are concerned about transparency and accountability will wish for the EFCC to be ‘killed’. Let me use the word ‘killed’ because that is the agenda.
“They simply want to derail the fight against corruption because they don’t want accountability in their domains,” he said.
Meanwhile, lawyers and Senior Advocates, Dr Olisa Agbakoba and Femi Falana, have expressed divergent views on the constitutionality of the EFCC.
Agbakoba, a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, wrote to the National Assembly about constitutional issues related to law enforcement agencies in Nigeria and factors inhibiting the government’s objective of abolishing corruption, as stated in Section 13 of the Constitution.
In two separate letters to the Senate and House of Representatives, dated October 14, 2024, he stated that the EFCC was an unlawful organisation that he believed was “unconstitutionally established.”
He said, “I very strongly believe the EFCC is unconstitutionally established. The powers under which it was established go beyond the powers of the National Assembly. The EFCC is an unlawful organisation.”
However, three days later, Falana, a human rights activist, in his letter to the National Assembly, opposed Agbakoba’s view.
He insisted that the former NBA president’s position was based on the premise that the establishment of the EFCC violated the basic principles of federalism.
The Executive Director of Africa Center for Media Information and Literacy, Chico Onumah, reacting to the suit, noted that there is nothing unconstitutional about EFCC as the laws that brought about its existence went through due process.
“The commission was set up by an Act over two decades ago and I don’t imagine that there is anything wrong with that.
“As far as I know, the laws that led to the setting up of the commission went through the due process.
“The EFCC I know is a legal institution, the laws that set it up are there like ICPC and it went through the normal process. What is unconstitutional about EFCC? The constitution empowers the National Assembly to pass laws like this so I don’t see anything unconstitutional about this.
“They are legal institutions and I see nothing unconstitutional about the anti-corruption agencies,” he said.
Speaking further he noted that the EFCC had been doing its fair share in the fight against corruption, even though there was room for improvement.
“They have been able to fight corruption. You can’t imagine where we are coming from and where we are today. Corruption is one of the biggest challenges in this country and whether we like it or not, these agencies have contributed their quotas.
“Of course, there’s room for more to do better but within the limited resources and manpower, I think they’ve done fairly well,” he added.
The Deputy Director of the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, Kolawole Oluwadare, stressed that the functionality and constitutionality of EFCC were not in doubt.
He said, “The constitutionality of the EFCC is not in doubt. The functionality of EFCC as an anti-corruption agency is also not in doubt.
“If the legal argument was made four years ago on the constitutionality of EFCC, the question that Nigerians who are interested in the transparent and economic growth of Nigeria on the state governors suit is to ask what is the end game and what are they afraid of?”
The Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, Auwal Rafsjani, condemned the state governments’ action, stating that the suit threatened not only the fight against corruption but also the autonomy of local governments—a fundamental pillar of grassroots democracy.
He said, “The recent legal battles waged by these governors represent a blatant disregard for the rule of law and an attempt to undermine Nigeria’s progress in establishing institutions that hold public officials accountable.
“This calls for deep concern and unequivocal condemnation of the recent actions of some state governors targeted at EFCC, Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit and by implications other anti-corruption agencies in the country, such as the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, the Code of Conduct Bureau and key law enforcement agencies like the Nigeria Police Force; preparatory to the commencement of full implementation of the recent Supreme Court judgment with regards to local government autonomy in Nigeria.”