The Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt has upheld a 2007 Rivers State High Court judgement restraining the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from investigating the finances and public accounts of the Rivers State Government.
The court’s judgement essentially blocked the EFCC from probing and prosecuting former Rivers State Governor Peter Odili, who governed the state between 1999 and 2007
In the judgement delivered on Friday in an appeal marked: CA/PH/622/2008, a three-member panel of the appellate court held that the earlier decision remains valid and binding because it was never challenged on appeal.
The panel, made up of Justices Ugochukwu Ogakwu, Isah Gafai and Zainab Abubakar, ruled in the appeal filed by the EFCC against the Attorney General of Rivers State, the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, the Rivers State House of Assembly, its Clerk and former Rivers Governor Peter Odili.
Reading the lead judgement, Mr Ogakwu held that the anti-graft agency could not disregard the 2007 ruling nearly two decades after it was delivered.
The dispute originated from a judgement delivered on 16 February 2007 by the Rivers State High Court, which held that only the Rivers State House of Assembly, the Accountant-General and the Auditor-General of the state possess constitutional powers to scrutinise and exercise control over the state’s finances and public records.
The lower court relied on Sections 120, 121, 122, 124, 125 and 128 of the 1999 Constitution in reaching its decision.
It ruled that those powers could not be shared with any other person, institution or agency, and consequently restrained the EFCC from investigating the state’s accounts.
The case is linked to a long-running legal battle over efforts by the EFCC to investigate the administration of Mr Odili, who governed Rivers State between 1999 and 2007.
Mr Odili had secured a perpetual injunction from the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt in 2007, barring the EFCC from investigating, arresting or prosecuting him, and also preventing the commission from examining the finances of the Rivers State Government during his tenure.
Although the EFCC had challenged the injunction since 2008, the order effectively shielded the former governor from investigation by the anti-graft agency for nearly two decades.
In 2018, the Court of Appeal granted the EFCC leave to challenge the Federal High Court judgement. That decision prompted the Attorney General of Rivers State and the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly to approach the Supreme Court in separate appeals seeking to overturn the appellate court’s ruling.
