Court fines EFCC N3m for declaring Emefiele’s wife wanted

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) came under the sledgehammer of a Federal High Court in Lagos, for its unlawful declaration of Mrs. Margaret Emefiele, wife of the immediate past governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, as a wanted person.

The court which nullified the conduct of the anti-graft agency subsequently ordered the commission as well as its chairman to pay the sum of N3 million as damages to the complainant.

The court predicated its decision because the commission cannot on its own without the order of a court of competent jurisdiction declare any person as wanted.

Mrs. Emefiele had on February 14, 2024, instituted a fundamental rights enforcement suit against the EFCC and its chairman, for publishing her name and photograph in their website as a “wanted person”.

In the suit marked: FHC/L/CS/262/2024, the applicant submitted that the publication of her name and photograph on the website of the EFCC as “Wanted” without any formal invitation extended to her and without any valid charge and or a court order to the effect amounts to a violation of her fundamental right to the dignity of her person.

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It also infringed her rights to personal liberty, freedom of movement, and right to security as guaranteed under Sections 34,35, and 41 of the 199 Constitution and Articles 5,6, and 12 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ratification and enforcement) Act (Cap A9) Vol 1 Law of the Federation of Nigeria, 2011.

The applicant in arguing her case informed the court that she is a law-abiding citizen of Nigeria who has never been invited by the respondents in connection with any allegation.

She further held that “That there is no criminal charge filed against her that is pending before any competent courts of law in Nigeria. That her attention was drawn to certain publications of the respondents on its websites wherein she and other 3 persons were declared wanted.

“That as at 5.06 pm on February 11, 2024, the X handle (formerly Tweeter) which has over 2.1 million followers, the said publication has been viewed by over 98,800 persons and reposted 455 times, that the publication generated a lot of concerns and have caused several persons to call her and reach out to her.

“That the publication of the second respondent’s website declaring her wanted without any invitation, charge, or court order gave the impression that she was evading an earlier invitation from the law.

“That the said publication by the second respondents was published on several online newspaper platforms and has generated negative comments against her person, portraying her as a person evading justice”.

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But 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.

In addition, the commission claimed that their action of publishing Mrs. Emefiele as a wanted person was based on the orders of the court, directing it to arrest the applicant and produce her in court.

Delivering judgement in the suit on June 28, trial judge, Justice D. I. Dipeolu, however, agreed with the applicant that the publication of her name and photograph on the website of the EFCC without an order of court violated her rights as guaranteed by the constitution.

On the issue of compensation for damages, the court held that the applicant through exhibits tendered was able to prove that she had suffered damages as a result of the conduct of the anti-graft agency.