Federal High Court adjourns Saraki's suit against EFCC, others

Justice Inyang Ekwo announced the adjournment on Tuesday, January 23, 2024, citing the need to await the report of the Court of Appeal on the application for a stay of proceedings filed by the ex-lawmaker.

During the resumed hearing, Saraki's lawyer, Tunde Afe-Babalola, SAN, informed the court about a pending application for a stay of proceedings filed on July 30, 2021. Afe-Babalola asserted that all parties had been served, and they were prepared to proceed with the case.

However, Christopher Mshelia, counsel for the EFCC, expressed uncertainty about whether the commission had been served and stated that he was not ready for the day's hearing. Ekenma Okafor, representing the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), claimed that his client had not been served and expressed surprise at the situation.

Okafor recalled a previous commitment made by the applicant's counsel to withdraw their appeal, stating, "We are surprised with this development."

In response, Afe-Babalola, unaware of Okafor's information, stated that the key point was the pending motion.

"If you had filed a stay at the Court of Appeal, why did you also file a stay here? If I grant you a stay here, have I not done their duty at the Court of Appeal?" Justice Ekwo questioned.

Subsequently, the judge decided to give Afe-Babalola time to address the matter at the Court of Appeal and set a new date for the proceedings. The case has been adjourned until April 18, 2023, for the report on the proceedings at the Court of Appeal.

It is noteworthy that Justice Ekwo had struck out the suits on January 25, 2023, for lack of diligent prosecution. Following the dismissal, Saraki filed an application on February 3, 2023, seeking the relisting of the cases.

Saraki had initially filed the suits (FHC/ABJ/CS/507/2019 and FHC/ABJ/CS/508/2019) in the Federal High Court against the Attorney-General of the Federation, Inspector-General of Police, State Security Service, EFCC, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), and CCB.

The suits were in response to the EFCC's decision in 2019 to investigate Saraki's earnings during his tenure as governor of Kwara from 2003 to 2011. The anti-graft commission reportedly seized some of his properties in Ikoyi, Lagos, at that time.