The Supreme Court of Nigeria has dismissed appeals filed by the Rivers State Attorney General and the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, clearing the way for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate the tenure of former Rivers State Governor, Peter Odili.
In a ruling delivered on Monday, March 10, 2025, by a five-member panel led by Justice John Okoro, the court upheld the leave granted by the Court of Appeal to the EFCC, allowing the agency to challenge a longstanding perpetual injunction that had previously prevented the EFCC from investigating Odili’s administration. The ruling was announced via a tweet from the EFCC’s X handle late Tuesday night, March 11.
Odili, who served as Rivers State Governor from 1999 to 2007, obtained the injunction from the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt in 2007. The injunction barred the EFCC from investigating or prosecuting him, as well as from probing the state’s finances during his time in office. For nearly two decades, the EFCC fought unsuccessfully to overturn the injunction.
In 2018, the Court of Appeal granted the EFCC permission to challenge the Federal High Court’s decision. However, the Rivers State Attorney General and Speaker of the House of Assembly filed separate appeals at the Supreme Court in an attempt to nullify the appellate court’s ruling.
During the Supreme Court proceedings on Monday, Justice Okoro questioned the nature of the appeals, noting that they were interlocutory and not the type of cases typically heard at that stage. The appellants’ lawyer, S. A. Somiari, SAN, argued that the appeal was aimed at challenging the leave granted by the Court of Appeal to the EFCC to contest the 2007 injunction. Justice Okoro, however, intervened, saying, “This is not the type of appeal we hear here,” and suggested that the parties return to the Court of Appeal to address the substantive matter before coming to the Supreme Court.
Acknowledging the court’s position, Somiari withdrew the appeal. The EFCC’s legal team, led by Abubakar Mahmud, SAN, and supported by Sylvanus Tahir, SAN, and B. O. Obialo, did not object to the withdrawal.
The Supreme Court consequently dismissed the appeal, with Justice Okoro ruling, “The appeal is dismissed, having been withdrawn without any objection.”
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