Court declines to order AGF to probe past EFCC chairmen
(Nigeria) An Abuja High Court sitting in Jabi, has struck out an application seeking an order to compel the Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF, to investigate former Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, chairmen for alleged corruption.
Justice Abba-Bello Muhammad, struck out the application
after listening to the submission of the applicants’ counsel, Mr Frank Tietie.
Plaintiffs in the matter with suit number M/4853/17 were
George Uboh and George Uboh Whistleblower Network.
Muhammad struck out the suit on the ground that the
applicants lacked the locus standi to compel the Attorney- General to
investigate past chairmen of EFCC.
According to the judge, the applicants have no power under
the provisions of the law to decide for the AGF who to prosecute.
“I have examined the application of the applicants seeking
an order of the court to commence an action of mandamus on the respondents. Applicant
must have a locus standi before such an application can be granted,’’ the judge
said.
According to Muhammad, a private legal practitioner has no
locus standi to compel the AGF to prosecute a person.
The judge added that Section 383 of the Administration of
Criminal Justice Act, ACJA, was specific on when a private legal practitioner
could compel the AGF to investigate an individual
The applicants had prayed the court, to exercise its powers
under Section 174 of the 1999 Constitution and order the AGF to investigate and
prosecute former and present EFCC chairmen.
Those listed for investigation were Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, Mrs
Farida Waziri, Mr Ibrahim Lamorde, Ibrahim Magu and Access Bank Plc.
They averred that the EFCC chairmen were fraudulent, and
refused to account for recovered money in accordance with Section 15, 16, and
17 of the EFCC Act.
The plaintiffs said that the respondent owed them a duty to
prosecute the EFCC chairmen.
They said that available evidence showed that Ribadu,
Waziri, Lamorde, Magu and Access Bank had committed; “serious acts of fraud and
corruption.”
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