The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) disowned police attorney Ibrahim Mohammed after he brought a criminal complaint against Senator Stella Adaeze Oduah, a former minister of aviation.
The anti-graft organisation informed the Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday that Mohammed, a Superintendent of Police, was neither required or entitled to bring any legal action against Mrs. Oduah, who is the senator from Anambra North.
Heleen Okonofua, the EFCC’s attorney, informed Justice James Omotoso that the Police attorney, who claimed to have come from the Force Headquarters’ legal department, was also not authorised by the anti-graft organisation to act as its representative in Mrs. Oduah’s criminal case.
The attorney claimed that Mohammed had worked for the EFCC at first but has subsequently lost all contact with them after being de-seconded from them back to the Police on November 4, 2022.
The criminal charge brought on June 22, 2023, by the police attorney in the name of the EFCC, was not authorised or approved by the organisation, she further stated to the court.
The attorney informed Justice Omotoso that the EFCC had conducted an investigation into the Police lawyer as the Judge had requested, and that the court would have access to the report of the findings after it had been filed at the court’s registry.
Justice Omotoso issued a brief order in which she set October 4, 2023, as the deadline for the EFCC to formally provide the court with the report of its findings.
On Tuesday, July 11, Justice Omotoso had turned the police attorney over to the EFCC for bringing baseless allegations against the former Minister on behalf of the EFCC.
The police attorney responded adversely when the judge asked him whether the EFCC had given him permission to submit the charges after noticing some problems in them.
Mohammed, who became illegible while responding to the judge’s questioning, acknowledged making mistakes when using the EFCC’s name to bring the accusations and said that he is a fallible human.
