The Federal High Court has granted approval for two separate lawsuits, each aiming to challenge the appointment of the newly-instated Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Olanipekun Olukoyede.
These lawsuits have been filed by legal practitioners, Mr. Stanley Okawara and Mr. Maxwell Opara, and bear the identifiers FHC/KN/CS/280/202 and FHC/ABJ/CS/1410/2023, with their respective origins in the Kano and Abuja divisions of the court.
The plaintiffs have posed a fundamental question before the court, seeking to ascertain whether, in accordance with the combined provisions of Section 1(1), 1(2), and 1(3), 4, and 15(5) of the Amended 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as well as Section 2(1)(a) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act 2004, the 1st defendant (Tinubu) is constitutionally empowered to appoint an individual who does not serve or has not previously served in a government security or law enforcement agency, below the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police or an equivalent position, as the Chairman of the 3rd Defendant.
Furthermore, the plaintiffs are seeking a legal order to annul and invalidate the appointment of the 4th Defendant as the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, a position they allege was filled on the 12th day of October 2023.
