{"id":67811,"date":"2022-12-20T23:08:55","date_gmt":"2022-12-20T22:08:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/?p=67811"},"modified":"2022-12-20T23:08:55","modified_gmt":"2022-12-20T22:08:55","slug":"breaking-kogi-agbakoba-heads-to-court-to-challenge-alledged-efcc-infraction-on-rule-of-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/breaking-kogi-agbakoba-heads-to-court-to-challenge-alledged-efcc-infraction-on-rule-of-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking&#8230;Kogi: Agbakoba Heads To Court To Challenge Alledged EFCC Infraction On Rule Of Law"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In order to legally prove his stance that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has been breaking the rule of law, especially with the manner it prosecutes matters relating to states of the Federation, former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Dr Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, has said he is heading to court.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-37688 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Mr.-Olisa-Agbakoba-300x162.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"162\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Mr.-Olisa-Agbakoba-300x162.jpg 300w, https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Mr.-Olisa-Agbakoba-768x414.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Mr.-Olisa-Agbakoba-110x59.jpg 110w, https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Mr.-Olisa-Agbakoba-420x226.jpg 420w, https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Mr.-Olisa-Agbakoba-770x415.jpg 770w, https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Mr.-Olisa-Agbakoba.jpg 975w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Agbakoba said he would be praying the court for a declaration on the exact scope of powers of the commission, especially in relation to states of the Federation, while maintaining that the EFCC must not in the fight against corruption undermine the rule of law.<\/p>\n<p>He quoted a very recent decision, Dr. Joseph Nwobike SAN v The Federal Republic of Nigeria FRN SC\/CR\/161\/2020, in which the Supreme Court drastically limited the scope of powers of the EFCC, as it recognised that the EFCC being very powerful could not be allowed to run amok.<\/p>\n<p>The Senior Advocate of Nigeria spoke in a statement he released on Tuesday evening, titled, &#8220;The Scope of Powers of EFCC Will Be Tested By The Courts.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-17463 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/efcc.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/efcc.jpg 225w, https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/efcc-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/efcc-125x125.jpg 125w, https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/efcc-110x110.jpg 110w, https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/efcc-32x32.jpg 32w, https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/efcc-50x50.jpg 50w, https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/efcc-64x64.jpg 64w, https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/efcc-96x96.jpg 96w, https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/efcc-128x128.jpg 128w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/>The statement reads, &#8220;Concerned that the EFCC often exceeds its powers in the investigation and prosecution of alleged offenders of our criminal laws, I held a media press conference to express my concerns, which I do occasionally on several national issues. I stated that I felt that the EFCC often but not all the time, I must concede, exceeded its powers in what it considers to be its public duty, in the war against corruption in Nigeria.<\/p><div data-ad-id=\"32665\" style=\"text-align:center; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px;float:none;\" class=\"afw afw_ad_image afw_ad afwadid-32665  \">\r\n                                                            <div style=\"font-size:10px;text-align:center;color:#cccccc;\">Advertisement<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.accessbankplc.com\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img decoding=\"async\" height=\"auto\" max-width=\"100%\" src=\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Banner-1.jpg\"><\/a>\r\n                                                                        \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p>&#8220;The EFCC issued a response stating that I was wrong to take the views that it sometimes acts outside the scope of its powers vested by the EFCC Act. The EFCC referred to some cases, but I would say that in a very recent decision, Dr. Joseph Nwobike SAN v The Federal Republic of Nigeria FRN SC\/CR\/161\/2020, the Supreme Court drastically limited the scope of powers of the EFCC, as it recognised that the EFCC being very powerful could not be allowed to run amok.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I am not a court. Neither is the EFCC. I will proceed to the Court for a declaration on the exact scope of powers of the EFCC, especially in relation to states of the Federation. A declaration by a Judicial authority is the most valid process to authenticate if I am right or wrong with respect to my position that the EFCC often acts contrary to the law.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I am not in any way against the EFCC on the fight against corruption. As admitted by the EFCC, I have always supported the fight against corruption. My concern is that the EFCC, in its undoubted statutory powers to stamp out corruption in Nigeria must strictly conform to the prescriptions of the law. EFCC must not in the fight against corruption undermine the rule of law. So, to the courts I go.&#8221;<br \/>\nWhile addressing a press conference on &#8220;The Rule of Law in Nigeria Today&#8221;, in Lagos on Sunday, Agbakoba had faulted the anti-graft agency over its recent actions against the Kogi State Government.<\/p>\n<p>According to him, how a state spends its money should not be the business of the anti-graft agency. He had accused the EFCC of impunity, saying that assuming it was the Commission&#8217;s business to inquire how the state spends its money, would it still be its lawful business to investigate it?<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In order to legally prove his stance that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has been breaking the rule of law, especially with the manner it prosecutes matters relating to states of the Federation, former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Dr Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, has said he is heading to court.<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":16146,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,624],"tags":[78,765],"coauthors":[2391],"class_list":["post-67811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-news","category-politics","tag-efcc","tag-kogi-state"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v18.9 - 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