Court okays EFCC freeze of Benue account

A Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed the suit filed by Benue State Government challenging the power of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate the state government finances. Justice Nnamdi Dimgba on Monday said the suit lacked merit, adding that EFCC has statutory powers to conduct investigations on appointed officials. “None […]

A Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed the suit filed by Benue State Government challenging the power of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate the state government finances.

Justice Nnamdi Dimgba on Monday said the suit lacked merit, adding that EFCC has statutory powers to conduct investigations on appointed officials.

“None of the officials is a Governor or Deputy Governor, who enjoys immunity under Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution,” he said.

The judge ruled that the timing of the investigation, which followed the defection of Governor Samuel Ortom, may affect public confidence in the EFCC. He added however that it is a moral rather than a legal question.

“Given, therefore, the sensitivity of its role and the First defendant now occupies in the imposed task of redeeming this nation, to earn public confidence, as a matter of life and death, the First defendant must not only be impartial and politically neutral, it must also be seen, and very transparently, to be such,” he said.