Olisa Agbakoba, a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), says the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was not constitutionally established.
Agbakoba stated this in two separate letters dated October
14 and addressed to the senate and house of representatives.
The letters were addressed to Barau Jibrin, deputy senate
president; and Benjamin Kalu, deputy speaker of the house — chairs of the
senate and house committees on constitution review, respectively.
Agbakoba highlighted constitutional concerns regarding law
enforcement agencies in the country, pointing out factors hindering the
government’s efforts to eliminate corruption, as outlined in Section 13 of the
1999 Constitution.
In the letter to the deputy senate president, Agbakoba said:
“I write to draw attention to certain constitutional issues on matters related
to law enforcement agencies.
“As you are obviously aware, the fundamental objective of
the government is to abolish corruption,” he said.
“But from my observation, there is no harmony amongst law
enforcement agencies on corruption. They all appear to be working at cross
purposes.
“This has been
confirmed by the supreme court in so many cases.
“The supreme court has consistently sanctioned the EFCC for
its conduct and questioned if the EFCC can in fact validly do what it does.
“I will go further to say that I very strongly believe the
EFCC is unconstitutionally established.
“The powers under which it was established go beyond the
powers of the national assembly. The EFCC is an unlawful organisation.
“I am very delighted
to note that many states have finally taken it upon themselves to challenge the
constitutionality of the EFCC.
“This will put to rest the question relating to the validity
of the EFCC.
“Whilst we await the decision of the supreme court as the
final court on the matter, I respectfully request that the Senate convene a
public hearing to consider these constitutional issues.
“Such a hearing would provide an invaluable platform for
stakeholders to discuss the reforms needed to strengthen Nigeria’s legal and
institutional frameworks for law enforcement and anti-corruption.
“This will meet the stated and laudable objective of the
government to abolish corruption as stated in Section 13 of the Constitution.”
The supreme court has fixed October 22 to hear a suit filed
by the attorneys-general of 16 states of the federation.
The suit is challenging the constitutional powers of the
national assembly to establish the EFCC and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence
Unit (NFIU), and the powers of these agencies to investigate and prosecute
matters related to the misappropriation of state funds.
The EFCC was founded in 2003 during the administration of
Olusegun Obasanjo.
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