The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a case aimed at preventing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from arresting Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu after his tenure.
According to reports by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the case was struck out on October 31 by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik. This followed a motion to discontinue the suit, filed by Gbenga Femi Akande, counsel representing Governor Sanwo-Olu.
In October, a lawsuit instituted on behalf of Sanwo-Olu against the EFCC over an alleged plan to arrest and prosecute him after his tenure was heard in court.
Darlington Ozurumba, a lawyer, filed the suit on behalf of the Lagos governor, who will complete his eight-year tenure on May 29, 2027.
In the suit, the lawyer argued that the alleged plan to arrest Sanwo-Olu is “unconstitutional and a flagrant violation of his fundamental right to personal liberty and freedom of movement as stipulated under sections 35(1) & (4) and 41(1) of the constitution”.
The suit sought an order to restrain the EFCC from harassing, intimidating, arresting, detaining, interrogating, or prosecuting Sanwo-Olu in connection with his tenure as the governor of Lagos state.
Reacting to the suit, the Lagos government had said Sanwo-Olu did not instruct anyone to file a case against the EFCC.
Lawal Pedro, the Lagos attorney-general, said the state will investigate “how the case came to be without the knowledge” of the governor.
Pedro said neither the governor nor his aides are under investigation by the EFCC, adding that there is no threat of arrest by the anti-graft agency.
In a counter affidavit, Ufuoma Ezire, a superintendent and litigation secretary in the legal and prosecution department of the antigraft agency, said the EFCC is not investigating the governor and has never threatened to arrest him or his staff.
The anti-graft agency described the legal action as speculative and a “mere conjecture”.
On Tuesday, Hadiza Afegbua, counsel of the EFCC, appeared in court for the case.
However, NAN reports that the lawyer was disappointed that the case was not among the 10 listed for hearing at the court.
The counsel was reported to have expressed surprise when she learnt that the suit had been struck out on October 31.
However, the enrolled order dated October 31 shows that only Akande, the counsel who represented Sanwo-Olu, attended the proceedings leading to the dismissal of the suit.