Jigawa, Benue withdraw from suit challenging legality of EFCC, ICPC, NFIU

Jigawa and Benue states have formally pulled out of a suit by 19 state governments challenging the constitutionality of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and two other anti-corruption agencies.

Jigawa, being the latest to opt out of the case, has already filed a notice of discontinuance at the Supreme Court, where the suit was heard and reserved for judgement.

The notice of discontinuance was filed by the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Jigawa, Bello Abdulkadir Fanini.

A similar path was taken by Benue State on the order of the state governor, Hyacinth Alia.

This brings to five the number of states that have officially withdrawn from the suit, which has the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice as the sole defendant.

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Other states that had earlier pulled out of the suit include Anambra and Ebonyi.

Although no reasons were advanced in their respective notices of discontinuance, it was reliably gathered that issues of intimidation had crept into the case.

Last week Tuesday, the Supreme Court reserved judgement in the suit filed by 19 states challenging the constitutionality of the laws establishing EFCC and two others to a date to be communicated to the parties.

The plaintiffs, in the suit, marked SC/CV/178/2023, had argued that it was a United Nations convention against corruption that was reduced into the EFCC Establishment Act and that in enacting this law in 2004, the provision of Section 12 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, was not followed.

The argument was that, in bringing a convention into Nigerian law, the provision of Section 12 must be complied with.

According to them, the provision of the constitution necessitated the majority of the states’ houses of assembly agreeing to bring the convention in before passing the EFCC Act and others, which was allegedly never done.

Justice Musa Uwani Abba-Aji, who headed a seven-man panel of Justices, had at the last proceedings reserved judgement after taking arguments for and against the matter from the parties.