By Adedapo Adesanya
The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a suit filed by a former Minister of Power and Steel, Mr Olu Agunloye, alleging abuse of his fundamental rights and seeking to be shielded from investigation and prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
In a statement following the court’s judgement on Monday, the anti-graft agency said the presiding judge, Mr Obiora Egwuatu, dismissed the suit for lacking in merit and awarded a cost of N500,000 against Mr Agunloye in favour of the EFCC.
Dismissing the suit, the judge held that Mr Agunloye’s fundamental human right was not “abridged” as he claimed, noting that the investigation conducted by the EFCC was in line with the Nigerian constitution and provisions of the EFCC Act, 2004.
The judge also commended the EFCC for the civility with which it treated Mr Agunloye and advised him to stop evading criminal investigation of the Commission as there was no fundamental right against criminal investigation.
The EFCC is prosecuting Agunloye on seven-count charges, bordering on fraudulent award of contract and official corruption to the tune of $ 6 billion.
Mr Agunloye, 75, had, in the suit, sought an order of court against his invitation, interrogation and prosecution by the EFCC in connection with the alleged award of the controversial $6 billion hydropower contract in 2003 to Sunrise Power and Transmission Company (SPTC) Limited
He allegedly awarded the contract in his capacity as the Minister of Power and Steel during the administration of then-President Olusegun Obasanjo without the approval of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
The charges also include receiving the sum of N3.6 million through his Guaranty Trust Bank account no.0022530926 from Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited (SPTCL) in 2019.
Suing the EFCC, he alleged that his invitation and interrogation were “arbitrary, malicious, unconstitutional, unlawful and constitute a gross violation” of his right to “dignity of the human person, personal liberty and freedom of movement.”
He prayed the court “to restrain the EFCC from arresting, detaining, harassing, further inviting, interrogating, or inviting in order to arrest and or detain him with respect to the award of contract to Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited.”
In response, the EFCC argued that it was statutorily empowered by law to cause investigations to be conducted “as to whether any person, corporate body or organisation has committed any economic and financial crime.”
The EFCC counsel further argued that the commission was simply investigating the role the applicant played in the award of the Mambila Project to Sunrise Power and Transmission Company.
He also said Mr Agunloye curiously jumped the administrative bail granted to him by EFCC on self-recognition, which he backed with a voluntary undertaking to provide a surety on or before 19 May 2023.
“The applicant refused to return to the office of the respondent on 19 May 2023, as undertaken by him, instead he vanished and later served the respondent with his application for enforcement of fundamental rights on 22 June 2023 pending before this honourable court thereby seeking to be shielded from a criminal investigation by this honourable court.”
The EFCC is prosecuting Mr Agunloye, who served as a minister in the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, on charges of forgery, disobedience of presidential order and corruption stemming from the Mambilla power contract.
The EFCC accused the former minister of awarding a contract for the construction of a 3,960MW Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Station on the build, operate and transfer basis to Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited without any budgetary provision, approval or cash backing.
He was arraigned on Wednesday, 10 January 2024 before a judge of the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Apo, Abuja, Justice J.O. Onwuegbuzie.
The prosecution also alleged that it traced some suspicious payments made by Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited to the former minister’s accounts.
The defendant, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges preferred against him.
Modupe Gbadeyanka