The Supreme Court has dismissed the suit filed by Kogi and 15 other States challenging the legality of the laws establishing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and two other anti-corruption agencies.
The seven-man panel of justices led by Justice Uwani-Abba-Aji, in a unanimous decision, dismissed the suit for lacking in merit.
The other agencies are the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).
In a unanimous judgment on Friday, a seven-member panel of the apex court held that the suit was without merit.
According to the court, the EFCC Establishment Act did not require any form of ratification by the Houses of Assembly of the 36 states of the federation since it was not a treaty but a convention.
“A convention would have been ratified by member states, and the National Assembly can make laws from it, which will be binding on all the states in Nigeria as it is in the case of EFCC Establishment Act.
“In a country like Nigeria, the federating units do not have absolute power. The NFIU guideline is to present a benchmark and not to control the funds.
The states relied on the fact that since the 1999 Constitution, as amended, is the supreme law of the land, any Act of the National Assembly that is inconsistent with the constitution ought to be declared a nullity.
Even though the suit, marked: SC/CV/178/2023, was originally brought before the court by Kogi State, however, some states applied and were joined as co-plaintiffs while others filed applications for their own suit to be consolidated with the matter.
When the parties adopted their argumentative submissions on October 22, the Federal Government petitioned the Supreme Court to dismiss the case for lack of merit.
FG, represented by Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, contested the legal action’s competence, characterizing it as a danger to the nation’s ongoing battle against financial crimes and corruption.
In contrast to the states’ argument, the AGF insisted that the EFCC was legitimately founded in accordance with Section 15(5) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
The plaintiffs’ argument that the Act creating the EFCC was a derivative of an international agreement that was improperly domesticated in Nigeria was also denied by Fagbemi, SAN.
