The Ogun State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Oluwasina Ogungbade (SAN), has criticized ongoing media reports claiming that the state is contesting the legality of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) at the Supreme Court.
In a statement released on Monday, Ogungbade expressed his confusion over why certain media outlets continue to list Ogun State among those challenging the EFCC in court.
“We do not have any lawsuit against the EFCC. We have never initiated any action questioning its constitutionality,” he stated.
Ogungbade reiterated, “We issued a clarification last week stating that we have no suit challenging the EFCC’s constitutionality, nor did we join the case filed at the Supreme Court by other states. We respect the rights of those states to challenge the EFCC in court, as is their prerogative in a democratic federation.”
He emphasized that the documents filed by Ogun State are public and available for examination, expressing surprise that some media outlets continue to report that Ogun State is among those contesting the EFCC’s legitimacy.
“I hope these outlets will take this clarification, along with our previous statement, to accurately represent the situation,” he added. The Ogun State government had previously issued a statement from the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Strategy, Kayode Akinmade, clarifying that the Supreme Court has already ruled on the constitutionality of the EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, considering the matter settled.
The government noted that there is no factual basis or recent development to revisit the issue of the EFCC’s constitutionality, asserting that as a federating unit with its own law enforcement agencies, it does not intend to undermine the Federal Government’s law and order objectives.
Clarifying the nature of Ogun State’s case, Ogungbade explained, “The case we filed (SC/CV/912/2024) does not challenge the constitutionality of the EFCC. Instead, it seeks to invalidate the NFIU Guidelines and Advisory issued in January 2023, which interfere with the economic and governance interests of Ogun State and its local governments. We are not disputing the EFCC’s constitutionality in this matter.”
As of now, approximately five states have requested to withdraw from the case originally filed by Kogi State, which challenges the EFCC’s constitutionality. Recently, the Benue State Governor, Revd Fr. Hyacinth Alia, suspended the State’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice for joining the case without prior approval.
During the hearing on October 22, 2024, the Supreme Court reserved its judgment on the matter.
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