S/Court Reserves Ruling On Suit By 16 States Govs Seeking To Dissolve EFCC
By Vivian Michael, Abuja
Attorneys General of Anambra, Adamawa and Ebonyi state have withdrawn from the suit before the Supreme Court, challenging the legality of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission EFCC.
The seven-man panel led by Justice Uwani Abaaji struck out their suits accordingly, as the Attorney General of the Federation did not object to their withdrawal from the suit.
The suit was initiated by the Kogi State government and joined by the Ondo, Edo, Oyo, Ogun, Nasarawa, Kebbi, Katsina, Sokoto, Jigawa, Enugu, Benue, Anambra, Plateau, Cross-River and Niger.
The state governments, in their suit, had argued that the Supreme Court, in Dr Joseph Nwobike Vs Federal Republic of Nigeria, held that it was a United Nations Convention against corruption that was reduced into the EFCC Establishment Act and that in enacting the law in 2004, the provision of Section 12 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, was not followed.
They argued that in bringing a convention into Nigerian law, the provision of Section 12 must be complied with.
According to the plaintiffs, the provision of the Constitution necessitated the majority of the states’ houses of assembly agreeing to bring the convention in before passing the EFCC Act and others, which was allegedly never done.
The argument of the states in their present suit, which had reportedly been 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 Nigerian constitution.
Meanwhile, the court has reserved judgement on the matter for a later date that will be communicated to the parties.
