Appeal Court Upholds 2007 Judgment Barring EFCC From Probing Rivers Govt

The Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt has ruled that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) remains bound by a 2007 Rivers State High Court judgment that restrained it from investigating Rivers State Government’s public funds and accounts.

A three-member panel comprising Justices Ugochukwu Anthony Ogakwu, Isah Bature Gafai and Zainab Bage Abubakar delivered the judgment on Friday in Appeal No. CA/PH/622/2008, with Justice Ogakwu reading the lead ruling.

The appeal involved the EFCC as appellant and the Attorney General of Rivers State, the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, the House of Assembly, its Clerk and former Governor Peter Odili as respondents.

The dispute dates back to February 16, 2007, when the Rivers State High Court held that only the Rivers State House of Assembly, the Auditor-General and the Accountant-General have constitutional authority to inquire into and exercise control over the state’s public funds and financial records.

Relying on Sections 120, 121, 122, 124, 125 and 128 of the 1999 Constitution, the court held that those powers could not be shared with any other person, body, agency or organisation, and issued injunctive relief against the EFCC.

In its Friday ruling, the Court of Appeal said the EFCC had not challenged the 2007 judgment for nearly two decades and could not now ignore its binding effect. Justice Ogakwu said the constitutional interpretation made in the earlier judgment, whether right or wrong, remained binding because it was never appealed.

The court also held that the EFCC could not rely on its Establishment Act to override a binding constitutional interpretation, since the Constitution takes precedence over legislation.

“There was no appeal against the said judgment of the High Court of Rivers State. The judgment remains conclusive, and binding and the constitutional interpretation made therein whether right or wrong is accepted as correct and it cannot be argued against since it was not challenged on appeal,” Justice Ogakwu stated in the lead judgment.

The ruling follows proceedings in March 2025, when the Supreme Court dismissed appeals filed by the Rivers State Attorney General and the Speaker of the House of Assembly against the Court of Appeal’s earlier decision allowing the EFCC to challenge the 2007 injunction.

Reacting in a tweet on Saturday, a professor of law and former chairman of Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission, Chidi Odinkalu, said the development will have “far-reaching consequences for the EFCC”

He wrote, “Other states will claim benefit of this decision. One consequence could be that the #EFCC will #DoubleDown on harassing students & 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 & there is already a certified copy. That is a small miracle in a country where judgments can take months to break cover.”