‘We’ve been vindicated’ — former lawmaker praise s’court for dismissing suit challenging EFCC legality

By Idris Temidayo

Kayode Oladele, a former chairman of the house of representatives committee on financial crimes, says the supreme court’s ruling on the suit challenging the legality of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC), and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) is commendable.

Nineteen state governments, led by Kogi, had approached the apex court to seek a judicial interpretation and judgment on the existence and prosecutorial authority of the anti-corruption agencies in the states.

The state argued that a UN convention against corruption had led to the EFCC Establishment Act, noting that the provision of section 12 of the 1999 Constitution was not followed in enacting the law in 2004.

However, in a landmark judgment delivered on November 15 by a seven-member panel, led by Uwani Abba-Aji, the supreme court ruled that the laws establishing the EFCC and other anti-graft agencies were validly enacted by the national assembly within its legislative competence.

The court, while striking out the case for lack of merit, pronounced as “selfish” the motives of the state governments challenging the establishment of the anti-graft agencies.

In a statement reacting to the ruling, Oladele said the decision of the supreme court is a “vindication of our position that Nigeria operates a cooperative federalism as opposed to dual federalism”.

He noted that “under the co-operative federalism as practiced in Nigeria, some agencies like the EFCC, ICPC, and NFIU are common agencies for both the federal and state government”.

“And as such, the EFCC is qualified as any other authority to institute criminal proceedings under section 174(1)(b) and section 211(1)(b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended),” the former lawmaker added.

Oladele said the decision of the apex court was another bold step towards enhancing the operational capacities of the anti-graft agencies in Nigeria.

“It has finally put to rest the desperation by some powerful forces to truncate the federal government’s efforts in fighting and taming the monster of corruption in the country, and I have no doubt in my mind that the judgment will further enhance and strengthen the operational capacity of our anti-graft agencies,” he said.

“By this judgment, the investigative and prosecutorial powers of EFCC and ICPC over crimes committed at both the states and federal levels have been affirmed, and our arguments have been sustained by the supreme court.”

Femi Falana, a human rights lawyer, and Oladele had locked horns in recent times with Olisa Agbakoba, the former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), over the constitutionality of the EFCC.

Agbakoba had argued in a letter to the national assembly that the EFCC was unconstitutionally established as “the powers under which it was established go beyond the powers of the national assembly” and therefore should be abolished; both Falana and Oladele had posited that the view expressed by the former NBA president “did not have any legal backing and therefore unsupportable in law and practice, but mere sophistry”.