The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has come under the sledgehammer of a Federal High Court in Lagos ruling that its declaration of former CBN governor Godwin Emefiele’s wife Margaret Emefiele as a wanted person is illegal.
The court nullified the conduct of the anti-graft agency subsequently ordering it and its chairman to pay N3 million as damages to the complainant.
The court predicated its decision on the premise that EFCC cannot on its own without the order of a court of competent jurisdiction declare any person as wanted.
Mrs Emefiele had on 14 February 2024 instituted a fundamental rights enforcement suit against the EFCC and its chairman for publishing her name and photograph on their website as a “wanted person” without any formal invitation extended to her and without any valid charge and or court order to the effect amounts to a violation of her fundamental right to the dignity of her person.
However, the EFCC in its response argued that all efforts to contact Mrs Emefiele to respond to the corruption and money laundering case they were investigating at the CBN, under her husband, were unsuccessful.
Additionally, the commission claimed that their action of publishing Mrs Emefiele as a wanted person was based on the court directing it to arrest the applicant and produce her in court.
