Enugu State Government has formally backed out from a lawsuit involving 16 states, which questions the legal power of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other anti-corruption bodies.
The lawsuit, filed in the Supreme Court, argues that these agencies were established without the approval of state governments.
This case, launched in 2023, was initially filed by Kogi State and later joined by 15 other states, including Enugu. The states collectively challenged the EFCC, Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), and similar agencies, questioning their power to investigate state-level matters and accusing them of overreach.
Recently, the number of states involved in the lawsuit has dropped, with three states—Ebonyi, Anambra, and Adamawa, backing out on October 23.
On October 21, the Attorney General of Enugu State, Dr. Kingsley Udeh, filed an official request for Enugu’s withdrawal from the case. However, on October 23, the court could not consider this request because it had not yet been processed by the Supreme Court’s Registrar. The document was eventually stamped and recorded by the court the following day, on October 24, 2024.
The Supreme Court has scheduled the case for judgment but a specific date has yet to be fixed.