A non-governmental organisation, Journalists Against Corruption (JAC) has commended the Enugu State government for withdrawing from the suit challenging the legality of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other federal anti corruption agencies.
In a statement issued on Thursday and signed by its Programme Coordinator, Kehinde Osifisan, the group described the decision of Enugu as “timely and a step in the right detection”, while urging other state governments who are still in court to back-out, saying “it is not too late.”
Enugu State had on October 24, 2024 withdrawn from the suit filed by some states in the federation, contesting the laws that established the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, as well as the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit guidelines, which is before the Supreme Court.
The suit against the EFCC was initially filed by Kogi State Government in 2023, while 18 other states later joined.
The Enugu State’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Kingsley Udeh, in an application addressed to the Supreme Court, disclosed the decision of the state to discontinue being a participant in the suit.
The Benue State Governor, Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia, suspended the state’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice and Public Order, Fidelis Mnyim, for joining the suit without the approval of the governor.
With the latest development , Enugu became the sixth state to withdraw from the controversial suit, after Anambra, Adamawa, Ebonyi, Benue, and Jigawa. With the withdrawal of six states, only 13 states are left to pursue the matter, as parties await the date of judgement from the Supreme Court.
However, JAC in the statement said it was not too late for the other litigating states to back-out. The statement read in part: “It is not too late for the remaining states in the suit to withdraw from the controversial suit instituted by the Kogi State Government in year 2023.
“Even if you look at the numbers, 13 states are in court as against 36 states and FCT, it is clear that Kogi and the collaborating states against EFCC are in the minority. We are of the considered view that the suit is unnecessary, immoral, time-wasting and a delay mechanism by the original initiator of the suit.
“We align with the Ogun State government, which has posited rightly that the issue of legality or constitutionality of the EFCC has been long resolved by the Supreme Court and that there is no new facts or development to revisit the issue.”
