Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has sued the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged threat of arrest, detention and prosecution after his tenure as governor.

Sanwo-Olu, through his lawyer, Darlington Ozurumba, filed the fundamental rights enforcement action before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court in Abuja.

When the matter came up for mention on Tuesday, Ozurumba informed the court that he had withdrawn the previous summons filed and replaced it with a new one.

The lawyer said the anti-graft agency was duly served with the latest court documents.

However, the EFCC lawyer, Hadiza Afegbua, said she is yet to see the documents.

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Further, the proof of service of the suits was not on the court record and Justice Abdulmalik adjourned the matter till November 11 for further mention.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that in the original summons, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/773/2024, dated and filed on June 6, the governor raised seven questions and sought 11 reliefs.

Sanwo-Olu sought a declaration that under and by virtue of the provisions of Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution, “the applicant, as a citizen of Nigeria, has the right to private and family life as a minimum guarantee encapsulated in the Constitution of Nigeria . Republic of Nigeria, 1999 before, during and after holding a public office created by the Constitution.”

He wants the court to declare that under and by virtue of the provisions of Sections 43 and 44(1) of the 1999 Constitution, he is entitled to acquire, hold, operate and manage both movable and immovable property.

These, he said, include bank accounts, as a minimum guarantee encapsulated in the constitution, whether before, during and after leaving public office as a governor of a state.

He also wants the court to declare that on the common reading of the provisions of Sections 35(1) and (4) and 41(1) of the constitution, the threat of his investigation, arrest and detention by the EFCC during his tenure. as governor is illegal.

He further said that the plan to arrest him is unconstitutional and a flagrant violation of his fundamental right to personal liberty and freedom of movement as guaranteed by Sections 35(1) and (4) and 41(1) of the Constitution of the Republic Federal. of Nigeria, 1999 (now amended).

The governor prayed the court to declare that the incessant harassment, threat of arrest and detention against him at the instigation of the EFCC by his political opponents, based on false and politically motivated allegations of corruption, amounts to abuse of executive powers and abuse of public office.

He also wants the court to declare this an unjustified interference with his fundamental right to personal liberty, freedom of movement, due process and equal protection of the law as guaranteed by the constitution and the African Charter of Rights of man and peoples, CHAPTER A9. LFN 2004.

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Sanwo-Olu therefore sought an order restraining the EFCC from harassing, intimidating, arresting, detaining, interrogating or prosecuting him in connection with his tenure as governor of Lagos State.

He also prayed the court to issue an order prohibiting and prohibiting the commission from “seizing the property, international passport and travel documents of the applicant or freezing the bank accounts of the applicant, his family members or in any other way for further violation of the legal provisions. the applicant’s fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution.”

He asked the court to issue an order restraining the EFCC from summoning, arresting or detaining him in connection with his mandate as governor of the state or infringing his fundamental rights to personal liberty, due process, privacy and of family, freedom of movement, purchase. of movable and immovable property, as established by law
In the affidavit in support of the original subpoena filed by Martha Kanu, a litigation secretary at the law firm, the lawyer said she was informed by the governor in a teleconference meeting that she believed to be true.

She alleged that as a way to get to the governor, the EFCC was now hatching a secret plan to arrest some of his advisers and family members on trumped-up and false allegations of misappropriation of funds.
She said officials of the commission have now pressured some of the governor’s aides to come forward and make incriminating statements against him.

Kanu further alleged that the anti-corruption agency was also threatening to go after some contractors handling projects for the state government.

He said the agency is coercing them to come and make statements to implicate Sanwo-Olu in corruption as part of the orchestrated fabrication to build a strong case against him.

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According to her, in a malicious attempt to reach the plaintiff, some of the plaintiff’s political opponents, together with some of the defendant’s officials, are falsely attributing to his administration corrupt practices that do not exist.

She alleged that the EFCC, through some of its officials, was desperately concocting false, false and malicious allegations against the governor to use as a basis to investigate, arrest and prosecute him after he left office as governor.

NAN reports that Sanwo-Olu was sworn in as governor of Lagos State on May 29, 2019 and was re-elected and sworn in again for a second term on May 29, 2023.