In a recent statement via his official X account, human rights lawyer and former chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Professor Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, has reacted to a recent Court of Appeal ruling involving the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), warning that the judgment could have serious implications for anti-corruption efforts in Nigeria.
”Other states will claim benefit of this decision. One consequence could be that the #EFCC will double down on harassing students and hair salons in order to form activity. The politicians meanwhile can double down on plunder under cover of judicial protection. By the way, in case you have not noticed, the judgment was issued yesterday and there is already a certified copy. That is a small miracle in a country where judgments can take months to break cover,” he wrote.
In his post, Odinkalu stated that the Court of Appeal delivered a major decision in Port Harcourt by directing the implementation of a 2007 judgment from the Rivers State High Court, the earlier judgment reportedly barred the EFCC from investigating the accounts of the Rivers State Government.
According to him, the original ruling was delivered on February 16, 2007, but the EFCC did not challenge it at the time, he explained that the appeal filed years later was not focused on whether the original judgment was right or wrong, but rather on whether it should be enforced, the appellate court eventually held that since the commission failed to appeal the initial ruling, it remained legally bound by it nearly two decades later.
Odinkalu argued that the outcome could encourage other state governments to seek similar legal protection against investigations into public funds, he warned that the development may weaken accountability and create obstacles for anti-corruption agencies trying to investigate alleged financial misconduct involving powerful political figures.
He claimed that the EFCC could respond by shifting attention toward easier targets, including students and small business operators, while politically exposed individuals benefit from what he described as judicial cover.
He further questioned the speed with which the certified true copy of the judgment became available and noted that court judgments in the country often take months before official copies are released, making the swift availability of this one unusual.”….Read_More…
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