The Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt has upheld a 2007 Rivers State High Court judgment restraining the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from investigating the finances and public accounts of the Rivers State Government.
The judgment effectively blocks the EFCC from probing former Rivers State Governor, Peter Odili, who governed the state between 1999 and 2007.
Delivering judgment on Friday in the appeal marked CA/PH/622/2008, a three-member panel held that the 2007 decision remained valid because it was never appealed.
The panel comprised Justices Ugochukwu Ogakwu, Isah Gafai and Zainab Abubakar.
“There was no appeal against the said judgment of the High Court of Rivers State. The judgment remains conclusive and binding, and the constitutional interpretation made therein, whether right or wrong, is accepted as correct and cannot be argued against since it was not challenged on appeal,” Ogakwu held.
The dispute stemmed from a February 16, 2007 judgment of the Rivers State High Court, which held that only the state House of Assembly, Accountant-General and Auditor-General had constitutional powers to scrutinise the state’s finances.
The appellate court ruled that the EFCC could not rely on its Establishment Act to override a subsisting constitutional interpretation by a competent court.
A former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Chidi Odinkalu, in his reaction, warned that the decision could have wider implications.
Odinkalu wrote on X, “Other states will claim the benefit of this decision.
“One consequence could be that the EFCC will double down on harassing students and hair salons in order to show activity. The politicians, meanwhile, can double down on plunder under the cover of judicial protection.”
He also noted the speed with which a certified true copy of the judgment became available.
“By the way, in case you have not noticed, the judgment was issued yesterday, and there is already a certified copy. That is a small miracle in a country where judgments can take months to break cover,” he added.