Charlè

God first ❤️

[Charlè @LegalCharles20]

Lawyer no fit know all the law ohh... Lord Denning sabi watin him talk true true

[Owolabi Adeshina Adeniyi @adeniyi_owolabi]

Learned Silk, with the greatest respect, you are mistaken.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has no constitutional or statutory authority to freeze the accounts of the Federal Government, any State Government, or Local Government Councils in the manner contended.

The framers of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) never contemplated a situation in which a federal agency would arrogate to itself powers superior to those of the federating units or any arm of government.

The receipt of lucrative briefs from the agency does not elevate it above the Constitution or confer upon it unlimited powers.

While Sections 6 and 7 of the EFCC (Establishment) Act, 2004 empower the Commission to investigate economic and financial crimes, these investigative powers cannot lawfully be stretched to the freezing or restriction of the statutory accounts of State Governments. Such an action directly collides with the clear provisions of Section 128 of the 1999 Constitution, particularly subsection (2)(b), which vests in the State House of Assembly the exclusive power to direct or cause to be directed an inquiry or investigation for the purpose of exposing corruption, inefficiency or waste in the execution or administration of laws within its legislative competence and in the disbursement or administration of funds appropriated by it.

Section 128(1) and (2) provides, in substance, that a House of Assembly shall have power by resolution to direct inquiries into the conduct of affairs of any person, authority, ministry or government department charged with executing or administering laws enacted by that House or with disbursing or administering moneys appropriated by it, and that these powers are exercisable precisely to expose corruption, inefficiency or waste.

This is a deliberate constitutional allocation of oversight responsibility over State public funds to the State Legislature (working with the Auditor-General of the State under Sections 125–127). It is not a power that can be exercised, overridden or duplicated by a federal agency through an ordinary Act of the National Assembly.

Where any conflict arises between the provisions of an Act of the National Assembly (including the EFCC Act or the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022) and the Constitution, Section 1(1) and (3) of the 1999 Constitution is categorical: the Constitution is supreme, and any other law inconsistent with it is void to the extent of the inconsistency.

States are coordinate units in the Federation; they are not federal parastatals, appendages or subordinate departments of the Federal Government. Freezing or placing a post-no-debit restriction on their statutory allocation or treasury accounts therefore undermines the federal structure, violates the principle of separation of powers, and invades the fiscal autonomy constitutionally guaranteed to the States.

Judicial authority reinforces these limits. In a recent decision of the Court of Appeal (Ado-Ekiti Division) delivered in 2026, the Court restrained the EFCC from investigating or inviting former or serving public officials of Ekiti State over matters relating to the public accounts of the State (including the Ekiti Airport Project).

The Court held that the responsibilities of auditing and investigating the public accounts of the State Government are constitutionally and exclusively vested in the Auditor-General of the State and the State House of Assembly, and that the EFCC cannot rely on the provisions of its enabling Act to override a subsisting constitutional interpretation by a court of competent jurisdiction. The Constitution takes precedence.

While the Supreme Court in Attorney-General of Abia State & Ors v. Attorney-General of the Federation (and related proceedings in 2024 involving Kogi and other States) upheld the legality and continued existence of the EFCC, ICPC and NFIU, and affirmed their competence to investigate economic and financial crimes (including those involving public officers at State level), that decision did not confer unlimited powers, nor did it endorse the freezing of State Government statutory accounts.

The Court recognised the agencies’ investigative remit but did not authorise administrative actions that would paralyse the constitutional functions of a coordinate tier of government or displace the oversight role expressly assigned to State institutions under Sections 120–129 of the Constitution.

Section 34 of the EFCC Act (and related provisions in the Money Laundering Act permitting limited temporary stop-orders in certain circumstances) speaks of accounts of “a person” and contemplates application to court for freezing orders. Public treasuries and statutory allocation accounts of State Governments are not private or personal accounts; they are public funds held for the discharge of governmental responsibilities under the Constitution. Treating them as ordinary “accounts of a person” susceptible to unilateral administrative freeze by a federal agency is both textually strained and constitutionally impermissible.

Freezing such accounts risks immediate disruption of salaries, security, infrastructure and essential services for millions of citizens an outcome wholly at variance with the public interest and the federal character of the Nigerian State.

Professor Kayinsola Ajayi, SAN, of Olaniwun Ajayi LP, a respected corporate lawyer and learned silk, correctly stated in a recent press interview that the EFCC’s powers are limited and that freezing State Government accounts does not fall within those powers.

The Supreme Court has itself reiterated that the Commission does not possess the unlimited authority sometimes attributed to it. The correct constitutional position remains that internal financial oversight of State public funds rests primarily with the State Auditor-General and the State House of Assembly under Sections 125–129.

The EFCC may investigate allegations of economic and financial crimes involving individuals, but it cannot, by administrative fiat or without clear judicial authorisation that itself respects constitutional boundaries, freeze the statutory accounts of a State Government.

In sum, any purported freeze of State Government accounts by the EFCC is unconstitutional. It collides with Section 128(2)(b), offends the supremacy of the Constitution under Section 1(3), undermines federalism, and violates the separation of powers.

The agency must operate strictly within the confines of the law; it is not, and cannot be, greater than the Constitution or the coordinate governments that the Constitution establishes.

[HIM @MrSkeemo]

this is so relatable

[femiiiiii. @femiiiszn]

do i like sleep? yes.
do i stay up late for no reason? yes.
do i regret it in the morning? yes.
will i be staying up again? absolutely.

[femiiiiii. @femiiiszn]

that awkward moment when you start telling a story and you realize no one is listening, so you slowly fade out and pretend you never said anything.

[Nnamdi 🦅 @_Nsznn]

Driving a luxurious car on the streets of Lagos now.

[SP @sspencerukk]

They’re calling it the most Friday Thursday on record

[femiiiiii. @femiiiszn]

when i say “the other day” it can be anytime between yesterday and my birth.

[k @ysljennii]

im either at work, going to work, coming from work, getting ready for work, getting some sleep for work, or thinking about not wanting to go to work 😭

[SMALLIE @the_smallie]

Xabi Alonso I no understand this your ball again o

[🥷 @_iamhabeeb]

The fact that LinkedIn wants you to pay for Premium while you’re unemployed and job hunting is insane

[Luvorboy @iamtamjeed]

The Odyssey was like if a bunch of celebrities got together and did a play

[ukeme @UKTHERULAA]

when somebody asks me to do something I’m already doing.

[CarefreeFC @RhysCarefree]

Chelsea FC world champions till the end of time

[autist @litteralyme0]

real

[Charlè @LegalCharles20]

@Techywhiz3 It seemed like some form of leprosy