Two distinct lawsuits attempting to remove Olanipekun Olukoyede, the recently appointed Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), were admitted by the Federal High Court.
The lawsuits were brought by attorneys Maxwell Opara and Stanley Okawara.
The EFCC, Godswill Akpabio, the Senate President, and President Bola Tinubu were listed as defendants.
On October 12, the Senate approved Olukoyede’s appointment.
The first lawsuit, with the case number FHC/KN/CS/280/202, was filed with a Kano Federal High Court, while the second lawsuit, with case number FHC/ABJ/CS/1410/2023, is still pending before the Abuja Federal High Court.
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“Whether having regard to the combined provisions of Sections 1(1), 1(2) and (3), 4, and 15(5) of the Amended 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Section 2(1)(a) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act 2004, the 1st defendant (Tinubu) is possessed of the constitutional powers to appoint anyone who is not a serving or retired member of any government security or law enforcement agency,” the plaintiffs ask the court in their petition.
The Kano Federal High Court’s Justice Abdullahi Liman has set a hearing date of October 30 to hear an application on notice that seeks to prevent the EFCC chairman from performing his or her official duties.
The plaintiff was also instructed by the court to add the EFCC Chairman, Olukoyede, and the Secretary of the Commission, Muhammad Hammajoda, as the 4th and 5th defendants, respectively, to the lawsuit.
