Enugu State has withdrawn from the suit filed by some states in the federation, contesting the laws that established the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, as well as the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit guidelines, which is before the Supreme Court.
The Kogi State Government initially filed the suit against the EFCC in 2023, with 18 other states, including Enugu, later joining the suit.
The state, which is the sixth plaintiff in the suit, became the sixth state to withdraw from the suit, the first three states being Anambra (ninth plaintiff), Adamawa (16th plaintiff) and Ebonyi (18th plaintiff).
The three states withdrew their suits before the seven-member panel of justices of the apex court on October 22, the day of the hearing.
Afterwards, Benue and Jigawa filed their separate application for withdrawals.
While Benue filed for withdrawal on October 23, Jigawa filed its own on October 24.
The PUNCH reported that the Benue State Governor, Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia, suspended the state’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice and Public Order, Fidelis Mnyim, for not informing him before joining the suit.
Also, the Ogun State government said it was not challenging the constitutionality of the EFCC but was seeking an interpretation of the apex court on the NFIU guidelines on cash withdrawal limit.
The Supreme Court, after hearing on October 22, reserved judgment in the suit to a date it would communicate to the plaintiffs.
The Enugu State’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Kingsley Udeh, in an application addressed to the Supreme Court, disclosed the decision of the state to discontinue being a participant in the suit.
The application was officially received by the apex court, on October 24, 2024.
The state in a suit, marked SC/CV/178/2023, titled, “Notice of the 6th Defendant’s (Attorney General of Enugu State) Withdrawal from this Suit brought Under Order 4 Rule 1 of the Rules of This Court and Under the Inherent Jurisdiction of this Court)” states that “Take notice that the 6th Plaintiff (Attorney General of Enugu State) intends and doth hereby withdraws his suit against the defendant (Attorney General of Federation) in the above-mentioned suit.”
The application was signed by the Attorney General of the state – Kingsley Udeh.
With the withdrawal of six states, only 13 states are left to pursue the matter to a logical conclusion.
The states argue that the Supreme Court, in Dr Joseph Nwobike vs. the Federal Republic of Nigeria, held that the United Nations Convention against Corruption was incorporated into the EFCC Establishment Act and in enacting this law in 2004, the provisions of Section 12 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, were not followed.
The plaintiffs also claimed that when bringing a convention into Nigerian law, the provisions of Section 12 must be complied with.
According to the plaintiffs, the constitution requires that a majority of state houses of Assembly must agree to the adoption of the convention before laws like the EFCC Act and others can be passed, which they claim was never done.
The states’ argument in their present suit, which they asserted had been corroborated by the Supreme Court in the aforementioned case, was that the law, as enacted, could not be applied to states that did not approve of it, in accordance with the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution.
They, therefore, argued that any institution established under such circumstances should be considered illegal.