The Supreme Court, on Tuesday, fixed Oct. 22 for the hearing of a suit filed by at least 16 state governments challenging the constitutionality of the laws establishing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC and two others.
A seven-member panel of justices, led by Justice Uwani Abba-Aji, fixed the date after the states were joined as co-plaintiffs and leave granted for consolidation of the case in the suit originally filed by the Kogi Government through its Attorney General AG.
The states that joined in the suit marked SC/CV/178/2023 include Ondo, Edo, Oyo, Ogun, Nassarawa, Kebbi, Katsina, Sokoto, Jigawa, Enugu, Benue, Anambra, Plateau, Cross-River and Niger.
The 16 states said they are relying on the fact that the constitution is the supreme law and any law that is inconsistent with it is a nullity.
The plaintiffs argued that the Supreme Court, in Dr Joseph Nwobike Vs Federal Republic of Nigeria, had held that it was a UN Convention against corruption that was reduced into the EFCC Establishment Act and that in enacting this law in 2004, the provision of Section 12 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, was not followed.
