Court Approves Bukola Saraki’s Plea To Amend Suits Against EFCC, ICPC, Others

The motion submitted by former Senate president, Bukola Saraki, seeking to amend his two distinct lawsuits against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other parties, has been approved by a Federal High Court in Abuja.

During a sitting on Monday, Justice Inyang Ekwo granted Saraki’s request after it was presented by the former lawmaker’s attorney, Tunde Afe-Babalola, SAN, with no objections raised by the defence counsel.

Justice Ekwo had, on January 25, dismissed the two lawsuits initiated by Saraki against the anti-corruption agency and others due to insufficient prosecution.

The former Senate President had lodged the lawsuits, designated as FHC/ABJ/CS/507/2019 and FHC/ABJ/CS/508/2019, at the Federal High Court on May 10, 2019.

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In these lawsuits, the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), the Inspector-General of Police (I-G), and the State Security Service (SSS) were named as the first to third defendants, respectively.

The EFCC, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), and the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) were listed as the fourth to sixth respondents.

Following the dismissal of the suits on January 25, Saraki, through his legal representative, sought to have the cases reinstated on the court’s cause list.

On February 1, Saraki filed a motion on notice, which was submitted on February 3, in accordance with Order 19, Rules 1 and 3, and Order 26, Rule 3 of the Federal High Court Civil Procedure Rules, 2019, requesting the relisting of the suits, a request that the judge subsequently granted.

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During the resumed hearing on Monday, Afe-Babalola informed the court that a motion to amend their original motion had been filed on July 29, and that all respondents had been served on July 31.

Lawyer to the SSS, Abdulsalam Abdullahi; EFCC’s lawyer, G.I. Ndeh, including ICPC’s lawyer, Glory Iroegbu; and CCB’s counsel, I.T. Mongu, did not oppose Afe-Babalola’s application to amend his originating motion.

Justice Ekwo, therefore, granted the reliefs and adjourned the matter until Feb. 6, 2025, for a hearing.