By Kolawole Ojebisi
It appears the plot by some governors to challenge the constitutionality of the law establishing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) may not come to fruition.
This is as Jigawa State has withdrawn its lawsuit aimed at scrapping the anti-graft agency.
The decision to take this route was made known when. the attorney general of the state, Bello Fanini, submitted Jigawa state government’s notice of discontinuance at the Supreme Court. With this development,Jigawa officially withdraws as a plaintiff in the case.
Fanini submitted the notice on Friday. This brings the number of states that have formally withdrawn from the case to five.
Recall that three states namely Adamawa, Ebonyi, and Anambra had earlier announced their withdrawal from the suit hours before the judge’s decision last Tuesday
Earlier, Hyacinth Alia, governor of Benue, had also signaled Benue state’s withdrawal from the suit following his suspension of Bemsen Mnyim, the State attorney-general, for “acting unilaterally” without clearing from him.
Sixteen states had initially approached the supreme court to challenge the operations and legality of the EFCC.
The states contended that the anti-graft agency was not validly established in 2003 by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration.
The states argued that the national assembly failed to adhere to section 12 of the 1999 constitution (as amended), which governs the incorporation of international treaties into domestic law, in the enactment of the EFCC Act. They maintained that domesticating a convention requires the approval of a majority of the state houses of assembly — based on the provisions of section 12 of the constitution.
On Tuesday, the supreme court reserved judgment in the suit and deferred judgment to a date that will be announced to the parties involved.
