EFCC Chair: Lawyer asks Court to halt Olukayode’s resumption, orders Akpabio, nominee to appear on October 30

 

. Appointing EFCC, ICPC chairmen from same zone unlawful, Falana tells Tinubu

 

 

A Kano-based legal practitioner, Stanley Okwara, has dragged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the Federal High Court, in suit no FHC/KN/CS/280/2023 seeking to set aside the appointment of EFCC Chairman on the ground that Mr. Ola Olukayode is not a serving or retired member of any government security or law enforcement agency not below the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police or equivalent (with 15 years cognate experience). Joined in the suit as Defendants are; the President, Senate President and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

 

The plaintiff who approached the Court through his Counsel Johnmary Chukwukasi Jideobi and sought answers from the Court to the following questions of law:

 

Whether having regard to the combined provisions of Section 1(1), 1 (2), and (3), 4 and 15(5) of the Amended 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Section 2 (1) (a) of ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL CRIMES COMMISSION (ESTABLISHMENT) ACT 2004, the 1st Defendant is possessed of the constitutional powers to appoint anyone who is not a serving or retired member of any government security or law enforcement agency not below the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police or equivalent to the position of the Chairman of the 3rd Defendant?

 

Whether having regard to the combined provisions of Section 1(1), 1 (2), and (3), 4 and 15(5) of the Amended 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Section 2 (1) (a) of ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL CRIMES COMMISSION (ESTABLISHMENT) ACT 2004, the 2nd Defendant is possessed of the constitutional powers to receive and consider for screening and ratification by the Nigerian Senate anyone who is not a serving or retired member of any government security or law enforcement agency not below the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police or equivalent to the position of the Chairman of the 3rd Defendant?

 

The Plaintiff, upon the determination of the questions of law he formulated, prayed the Court for;

 

A DECLARATION that having regard to the combined provisions of Section 1(1), 1 (2), and (3), 4 and 15(5) of the Amended 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Section 2 (1) (a) of ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL CRIMES COMMISSION (ESTABLISHMENT) ACT 2004, the 1st Defendant is NOT possessed of the constitutional powers to appoint anyone who is not a serving or retired member of any government security or law enforcement agency not below the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police or equivalent (with 15 years cognate experience) to the position of the Chairman of the 3rd

 

A DECLARATION that having regard to the combined provisions of Section 1(1), 1 (2), and (3), 4 and 15(5) of the Amended 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Section 2 (1) (a) of ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL CRIMES COMMISSION (ESTABLISHMENT) ACT 2004, the 2nd Defendant does NOT possess the constitutional powers to receive and consider for screening and ratification by the Nigerian Senate anyone who is not a serving or retired member of any government security or law enforcement agency not below the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police or equivalent (with 15 years cognate experience) to the position of the Chairman of the 3rd

 

AN ORDER of perpetual injunction restraining the 1st Defendant from appointing anyone who is not a serving or retired member of any government security or law enforcement agency not below the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police or equivalent (with 15 years cognate experience) to the position of the Chairman of the 3rd

 

AN ORDER of perpetual injunction restraining the 2nd Defendant from receiving for screening and confirmation anyone (appointed by the 1st Defendant) who is not a serving or retired member of any government security or law enforcement agency not below the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police or equivalent (with 15 years cognate experience) to the position of the Chairman of the 3rd

 

AN ORDER of this Honourable Court restraining anyone (appointed by the 1st Defendant) who is not a serving or retired member of any government security or law enforcement agency not below the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police or equivalent (with 15 years cognate experience) from assuming duties or performing the functions or exercising the powers of the Chairman of the 3rd

 

AN ORDER nullifying and setting aside – as a nullity- the appointment and ratification- as the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission- of anyone who is not a serving or retired member of any government security or law enforcement agency not below the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police or equivalent (with 15 years cognate experience) in the event those appointment and ratification take place before the judgment of this Honourable Court is delivered in this case.

Although the EFCC Chairman and the Secretary were not originally parties to the suit, since the suit was filed a day before their appointment was made public by the President, at the hearing of the ex-parte application on Friday the 13th day of October, 2023, the presiding Judge, Honourable Justice Liman granted leave to the Plaintiff to join Mr. Ola Olukayode and Muhammad Hammajoda as 4th and 5th Defendants respectively. The Judge approved that the Plaintiff should amend his Originating Summons and reflect the joinder of the new parties.

Justice Liman granted leave to the Plaintiff to serve the President through subsisted means by serving the Court processes on the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation and to serve the Senate President through subsisted means by serving the court processes through the Clerk of the Senate. The Presiding Judge also granted the Plaintiff’s prayer seeking to abridge the time within which the all the Defendants would enter appearance and file their respective processes to 15 days.

The Judge adjourned the matter to the 30th day of October, 2023 for hearing of the Motion on Notice which seeks to restrain newly appointed EFCC Chairman from resuming at the EFCC pending the resolution of the issues tabled in the Originating Summons

. Appointing EFCC, ICPC chairmen from same zone unlawful, Falana tells Tinubu

Meanwhile, a human rights lawyer, Mr Femi Falana, has declared that the appointment of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission chairmen from the same geopolitical zone is unlawful and against the Federal Character Principle.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria made the declaration during a live appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Monday.

 

According to Falana, if the chairman of the EFCC is from the northern region, then the chairman of the ICPC should be appointed from the southern region.

The recently appointed chairman of  EFCC, Mr Ola Olukoyede and the ICPC Chairman, Prof Bolaji Owasanoye are both from the South-West geopolitical zone.

Condemning Tinubu’s appointment of Olukoyede as EFCC chairman who is also from the South-West just like the current ICPC chairman, Falana said, “There is no issue; the only issue that has been raised has to be considered by the government is that we have in this country, the Federal Character Commission Act and also by the virtue of Section 14 of the constitution, appointments must reflect Federal Character.

 

“If you are going to have the EFCC and the ICPC, the heads cannot come from same zone. If there are two positions in the public service, one must go to the North, and one must go to the South. If there are four, two must go to the South, and two must go to the North. If there are six, one must go to each geopolitical zone. That is the law in Nigeria today.”

 

He added that though Olukoyede is very much qualified to head the EFCC, he (Falana) is not comfortable with the fact that the heads of both anti-graft agencies are from the South-West geopolitical zone.

 

 

“So, I am not comfortable with the fact that the heads of the EFCC and the ICPC are from the same zone. Apart from that, Mr Ola Olukoyede is eminently qualified to head the EFCC. My colleagues who have criticised the appointment have not looked at the relevant provisions of the EFCC which is Section 2”, he submitted.

 

Recall that on October 12, 2023, the President, Bola Tinubu appointed Mr Olukoyede as the new EFCC chairman amid controversies.

 

Mr Olukoyede’s appointment followed the controversial resignation of embattled ex-EFCC chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, who was suspended on June 14, 2023 and detained by the Department of State Services over allegations of abuse of office.