A Bauchi State High Court has dismissed a suit seeking to bar the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) from investigating alleged financial infractions in the Office of the Secretary to the Bauchi State Government (SSG).
This was stated in a statement, signed by ICPC spokesperson Demola Bakare and made available to journalists.
The case, filed by nine applicants under the name Concerned Indigenes of Bauchi State with suit number BA/834M/2024, asked the court to issue a perpetual injunction restraining the ICPC, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) from probing security votes in the SSG’s office.
The applicants argued that the anti-graft agencies had “deliberately failed” to act on petitions sent to them, despite alleged violations of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, including claims of huge cash payments without passing through financial institutions. They prayed the court to order that the matter be handed over to the Nigeria Police for investigation.
Their counsel, Mr. M. J. Jaldi, insisted that only the Police had shown willingness to investigate the complaints, accusing the ICPC, EFCC and NFIU of inaction.
But the ICPC, in a counter-affidavit, opposed the request, maintaining that the application was an attempt to use the court to undermine the statutory mandate of anti-corruption agencies. The Commission, supported by the EFCC, argued that the applicants had not submitted any petitions to them against the SSG and other respondents, stressing that nothing stopped them from also approaching the Police directly.
In his ruling, Justice F. U. Sarki held that the investigative powers of the ICPC, EFCC and NFIU do not exclude the authority of the Police, whose powers to investigate are even wider.
“It is not within the powers of this court to restrain the 1st to 3rd respondents from carrying out their statutory functions. The application is therefore consequently refused,” the judge declared.
The judgement affirms the powers of anti-corruption bodies, including the ICPC, to continue investigating allegations of financial misconduct in government offices
