Odili: Supreme Court Dismisses Rivers’ Suit Against EFCC, Orders Return To Appeal Court
The Supreme Court has dismissed two appeals filed by the Rivers State Attorney-General and the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, seeking to overturn the leave granted to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to challenge a long-standing order prohibiting the investigation of former Governor Peter Odili.
The dispute dates back to 2007, when Odili secured a court injunction preventing the EFCC from investigating or arresting him. The order also barred the anti-graft agency from probing the finances of the Rivers State government during his tenure.
In an attempt to revisit the matter, the EFCC sought and obtained permission from the Court of Appeal to challenge the 2007 ruling, despite the lapse of the usual time frame for appeal. Dissatisfied with the appellate court’s decision, the Rivers State Attorney-General and the Speaker of the House of Assembly escalated the matter to the Supreme Court.
At Monday’s hearing of the appeal, marked SC/CV/318/2018, a five-member panel of the Supreme Court, led by Justice John Okoro, questioned the nature of the case.
Counsel for the appellants, I. A. Somiari, explained that the appeal was challenging the Court of Appeal’s decision to grant the EFCC leave to appeal the 2007 judgment of the Federal High Court. However, before he could fully present his arguments, Justice Okoro interjected, stating, “This is not the type of appeal we hear here.”
The panel advised that all parties should return to the Court of Appeal for the substantive appeal to be heard before any further escalation to the Supreme Court.
Following this direction, Somiari applied to withdraw the appeal, which was not opposed by EFCC’s representative, Abubakar Mahmud, or by Sylvanus Tahir and B. O. Obialo, who represented other respondents.
The court subsequently ruled: “The appeal is dismissed, having been withdrawn without any objection.”
A similar decision was made in a separate but related appeal, SC/CV/447/2018, filed by the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
