The Federal High Court sitting in Ibadan has restrained the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission from proceeding with a broad investigation into the finances and contracts of the Oyo State Government, describing the anti-graft agency’s demand for records as speculative and amounting to a fishing expedition.
Justice Nkeonye Maha delivered the judgment on Wednesday in suit number FHC/IB/CS/61/2025, holding that although the EFCC possesses statutory powers to investigate economic and financial crimes, those powers must be exercised within the limits imposed by the Constitution and the rule of law.
The court consequently set aside the EFCC’s letter dated June 2, 2025, which requested copies of contracts entered into by the Oyo State Government and details of payments made to contractors from 2021 to the date of the letter.
Justice Maha held that a request for documents by the commission must be reasonable and connected to identifiable allegations or suspected offences within its statutory mandate.
The judge ruled that Section 38 of the EFCC Act does not authorise the commission to embark on indiscriminate or speculative inquiries into the entire financial affairs of an individual, government or institution without pointing to a specific transaction or suspected offence.
The case was instituted by the Governor of Oyo State, the state Attorney-General and the Accountant-General after the EFCC wrote to the Accountant-General demanding extensive financial and contractual records covering a period of more than four years.
The state government said it responded to the commission by asking it to identify the particular contractors, companies or transactions under investigation so that the relevant documents could be produced.
According to the plaintiffs, the EFCC did not respond to the request for clarification, prompting them to approach the Federal High Court to challenge the scope and legality of the demand.
The plaintiffs, represented by a legal team led by the Oyo State Attorney-General, Abiodun Aikomo, argued that the request was excessively broad, oppressive and unreasonable considering the large number of contracts and financial transactions undertaken by the state during the period covered.
They maintained that complying with the demand would require the state to gather and surrender records relating to virtually every contract and payment made between 2021 and June 2025, even though the commission had not identified any contractor, transaction or suspected offence being investigated.
The state government further argued that the EFCC’s investigative authority was subject to constitutional safeguards and could not be exercised in a manner that violated the plaintiffs’ right to fair hearing or imposed an unreasonable burden on public institutions.
It contended that anti-corruption investigations should be driven by evidence, petitions or specific allegations rather than open-ended attempts to examine several years of government transactions in the hope of discovering wrongdoing.
The EFCC, represented by I.G. Ojibor, who appeared with S. Adamu, defended the request by relying on Section 38 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Establishment Act 2004.
The commission argued that the provision empowered it to demand and receive information from any person, authority, corporation or company without obstruction when carrying out its investigative responsibilities.
It maintained that the request to the Oyo State Accountant-General was within its statutory mandate and necessary for the examination of the state’s financial activities.
Justice Maha disagreed with the commission’s interpretation, holding that the information-gathering power under Section 38 was not unlimited.
The court ruled that the provision permits the EFCC to request information for the investigation of offences recognised under the Act but does not confer authority to conduct a blanket examination of an institution’s finances without a stated allegation or defined investigative objective.
The judge held that the commission’s June 2 letter failed to sufficiently identify the suspected offences, contractors or transactions forming the basis of its request.
Justice Maha also found that the constitutional rights of the plaintiffs could not be disregarded merely because the EFCC described its actions as an investigation.
The court therefore restrained the commission from acting on the disputed request and set aside the letter demanding the financial and contractual records.
The judgment does not remove the EFCC’s general authority to investigate allegations of corruption or financial crimes involving Oyo State officials. It requires the commission to base any such investigation on identifiable allegations and make requests that are reasonably connected to the suspected offences.
The EFCC may challenge the judgment before the Court of Appeal.
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