Senior Lawyer Threatens Legal Action Against EFCC, Calls for Scrapping of Anti-Graft Agency
- Legal action might be taken against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the former president of the Nigerian Bar Association has said
- Olisa Agbakoba said such action is aimed at scrapping the anti-graft agency over duplication of responsibility with the police
- According to the lawyer, the EFCC does not have the right to go to the state and examine their accounts
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A senior advocate of Nigeria, Olisa Agbakoba, has called for the abrogation of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
PM News reports that the senior lawyer said he will take legal action against the EFCC to enable the court to determine if the agency was empowered to investigate the activities of the state governments.
Source: Twitter
Agbakoba alleged that the commission currently operating outside the constitution as the EFCC is a creation of the National Assembly and does not have the powers to interfere with the activities of state governments.
His allegations against the anti-graft agency follow the senior lawyer's condemnation of the attack against the governor of Kogi state, Yahaya Bello, by the EFCC.
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His words:
“The Supreme Court in many of its decisions have held that federalism means two autonomous and independent governments and if that is correct, the EFCC does not have the right to go to the state and examine their accounts.
“Anybody can read section 46 of the EFCC Act and Section 36(12) of the 1999 Constitution. Section 36(12) states that all offences must be defined and when you now read Section 46, you ask yourself if it complies with Section 36(12) because it does not.
“So part of the prayers I will seek in court is that EFCC ought not to exist in the first place because it is not a branch of the police and that the job done by the EFCC is the same one being done by the Police Special Fraud Unit."
EFCC wins big as court orders forfeiture of former accountant-general Ahmed Idris’ $900k, N304m, 15 houses
Some assets of the former Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, have been placed on interim forfeiture.
The temporarily forfeited assets include the sums of $899,900, N304,490,160.95, and 15 properties in Kano and Abuja.
The EFCC is prosecuting Idris and others for allegedly stealing N109 billion from the federal government.
Source: Legit.ng
