On Monday, the Supreme Court of Nigeria dismissed appeals filed by the Attorney General of Rivers State and the Speaker of the State’s House of Assembly against the leave granted to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) by the Court of Appeal.
This leave allowed the EFCC to challenge a Federal High Court, Port Harcourt order that had imposed a perpetual injunction barring the commission from investigating Peter Odili’s tenure as governor of Rivers State.
The dismissal, made by a five-member panel of the apex court led by Justice John Okoro, cleared the way for the EFCC to investigate Dr. Odili’s eight-year rule, effectively ending the long-standing legal battle to probe his administration.
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The legal issue began in 2007 when Odili, who served as governor from 1999 to 2007, obtained a perpetual injunction from the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt that prohibited the EFCC from investigating, arresting, or prosecuting him, as well as blocking any examination of the finances of the Rivers State Government during his tenure.
Despite the EFCC’s efforts to challenge the injunction since 2008, the order had shielded Odili from scrutiny for nearly two decades.
In 2018, the Court of Appeal granted the EFCC leave to appeal the Federal High Court’s decision, prompting the Attorney General of Rivers State and the Speaker of the House of Assembly to file separate appeals at the Supreme Court in an attempt to overturn the appellate court’s decision.
On March 10, 2025, the Supreme Court heard the appeal, marked SC/CV/318/2018. During the proceedings, Justice Okoro questioned the appeal’s validity, noting it was interlocutory in nature.
The lawyer for the litigants, S. A. Somiari, SAN, argued that the appeal contested the leave granted by the Court of Appeal for the EFCC to challenge the 2007 injunction.
However, Justice Okoro interrupted, stating, “This is not the type of appeal we hear here,” and advised the parties to return to the Court of Appeal for the substantive case before approaching the Supreme Court.
Acknowledging the court’s position, Mr. Somiari applied to withdraw the appeal, and the EFCC’s legal team, led by Abubakar Mahmud, SAN, along with Sylvanus Tahir, SAN, and B. O. Obialo, did not object to the withdrawal.
Justice Okoro dismissed the appeal, stating, “The appeal is dismissed, having been withdrawn without any objection.”
A similar appeal, marked SC/CV/447/2018, filed by the Speaker of the House of Assembly, was also dismissed on the same grounds.
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