Court dismisses Akwa Ibom government’s suit challenging EFCC powers

The Federal High Court in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, has dismissed a suit filed by the Akwa Ibom State Government challenging the powers of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate the state’s financial activities.

The EFCC disclosed this in a statement posted on its official Facebook page on Tuesday, saying that Justice M.A. Onyetenu dismissed the suit on 8 October after upholding a preliminary objection filed by the commission’s legal team.

The state’s then Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Uwemedimo Nwoko, instituted the suit in 2017 after an EFCC investigation into allegations that state resources had been diverted from their intended purposes.

The dismissal ends the federal court proceedings in the suit n the EFCC’s view. Still, it does not amount to a substantive determination that triggered the investigation or a definitive ruling on the court’s jurisdiction over state finances.

The commission said the judge upheld its objection that the suit was incompetent because a similar case instituted earlier at the Akwa Ibom State High Court in Ikot Ekpene remained pending when the federal action was commenced.

The EFCC’s counsel, Joshua Abolarin, argued that the existence of the earlier suit made the subsequent action at the Federal High Court procedurally defective.

Justice Onyetenu upheld the objection and dismissed the suit in its entirety, according to the commission.

How the dispute began

The dispute dates back to 2016, when some Akwa Ibom residents petitioned the EFCC over the alleged diversion of state resources meant for public welfare and development.

The commission said it opened an investigation and invited some state government officials to be questioned.

Rather than honour the invitations, the officials approached the Akwa Ibom State High Court in Ikot Ekpene through the state Attorney-General, challenging the commission’s actions.

The state government also instituted a separate suit at the Federal High Court, contesting the EFCC’s authority to investigate the state government’s financial activities.

On 6 July 2016, the late Justice F.O. Riman granted an interim restraining order against the EFCC and other federal government agencies pending the case’s determination, according to the commission.

The order was later used to resist the commission’s attempts to invite state officials for questioning.

An appeal against the restraining order was unsuccessful, with the Court of Appeal directing the parties to return to the trial court and await the determination of the substantive suit, the EFCC said.

The commission later challenged the committal suit’s competence, arguing that the earlier case before the State High Court had not been resolved before the second action.

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What the ruling means

The latest ruling is a procedural victory for the EFCC in its protracted legal dispute with the Akwa Ibom government.

By upholding the preliminary objection, the court dismissed the suit on the grounds the commission advanced, rather than determining the underlying allegations of financial misconduct, according to information released by the EFCC.

The dismissal does not prove that public funds were diverted or that any state official committed an offence, nor does the commission’s announcement show whether the separate case at the Akwa Ibom State High Court has since been determined.

The ruling nevertheless removes the federal suit as a vehicle for the state government’s challenge to the commission’s investigation, subject to any further legal steps available to the parties.

The EFCC is a federal agency established to investigate and prosecute economic and financial crimes. Disputes over its investigative powers have periodically generated litigation involving public officials and government institutions