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
