The Ogun State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Oluwasina Ogungbade (SAN), has condemned ongoing media reports claiming that Ogun State is challenging the legality of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission at the Supreme Court.
Ogungbade, in a statement on Monday, expressed concern over sections of the media that continue to list Ogun among the states challenging the EFCC.
“We don’t have a suit against EFCC. We never filed any action against EFCC challenging its constitutionality,” he clarified. “We already issued a statement to that effect last week, clarifying that we never had any suit attacking the EFCC’s constitutionality and that we did not join the suit filed at the Supreme Court by some other states in that regard.”
He also noted, “We respect the decision of states that have filed such a challenge, as it is their right to approach the court. That is allowed in a democracy and a federation. But the papers we have filed are public documents open to scrutiny, so I am surprised that some media outlets are still running reports that mention Ogun State as one of the states challenging the EFCC’s existence when that is not the case.”
Ogungbade called on media outlets to “be guided by this clarification as well as our statement from last week, to put out the correct position.”
Ogun State previously issued a rebuttal through a statement by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Strategy, Kayode Akinmade, asserting that the constitutionality of the EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission had already been determined by the Supreme Court and that Ogun State saw the matter as resolved.
The government emphasized it had no new basis to revisit the question of the EFCC’s constitutionality, as Ogun, a federating unit with its own law enforcement, supports the Federal Government’s law and order efforts.
Clarifying Ogun State’s actual case, Ogungbade explained, “The case Ogun State has filed (SC/CV/912/2024) does not attack the constitutionality of the EFCC. The suit 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. That’s what we filed. We are not challenging the constitutionality of the EFCC in this case.”
To date, approximately five states have applied to withdraw from the initial case filed by Kogi State, which challenges the EFCC’s constitutionality.
Recently, Benue State Governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, suspended the State’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice for joining the case without prior approval. The Supreme Court reserved judgment on the case during the October 22, 2024 hearing.
