Lagos State Government may have stopped the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, and other anti-graft agencies from investigating corrupt cases concerning its former governors; Bola Tinubu, Babatunde Fashola and Akinwunmi Ambode.
This is coming as the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu signed a new law that mandates EFCC, ICPC, other anti-graft agencies to hand over corruption cases to the state government.
The legislation titled ‘Lagos State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission Law’, is a new anti-corruption agency that will have the exclusive rights to investigate financial crimes and corruption cases involving the finances of the Lagos State Government.
According to section 13(3) of the law: “The commission shall upon the commencement of this law take over the investigation of all anti-corruption and financial crime cases involving the finances and assets of Lagos State Government being investigated by any other agency.”
Also, Section 13(5) of the law also stipulated that, “the commission shall have the power to the exclusion of any other agency or body to investigate and coordinate the investigation of corruption and financial crimes cases involving the finances and assets of the state government.”
Meanwhile, Bola Tinubu, Babatunde Fashola and Akinwunmi Ambode, are facing investigation by the EFCC.
EFCC had last year requested information on Tinubu’s declaration of assets from the Code of Conduct Bureau. It has also received petitions on Tinubu’s alleged usage of a tax consultancy firm, Alpha Beta, to divert Lagos funds and commit tax evasion to the tune of N100bn.
Fashola is also going through the commission’s investigation on his alleged part in a fraud concerning Babatunde Fowler, the former boss of Lagos Inland Revenue Service.
Likewise, the anti-graft agency, in 2019, commenced probing Ambode for alleged N9.9bn fraud.
Reacting to the development, the human right lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), said “the Lagos State law is valid,” adding that the constitution gives states the right to make such laws.
According to him, corruption and crime are not embedded in exclusive legislative list, therefore, the Lagos House of Assembly has more powers to create such law for the benefit of the state.
“It follows that anyone who commits a crime concerning such charges, fees or taxes is subject to the House of Assembly and that amounts to what is called an economic crime. It is therefore the House of Assembly that has the jurisdiction to deal with economic crime within its own jurisdiction, not the Federal Government through the National Assembly like a principal controlling its pupils.
“Therefore, the law made by the Lagos Assembly regarding financial crimes is a valid law in line with Section 4 of the constitution and the Second Schedule Part 1 and 2 of the exclusive and concurrent legislative list. There is nothing contrary to the EFCC law at the federal level.
“If the EFCC wants to enforce its Act, it should go to other states except Lagos because Lagos now has its own law. It is the same way the Federal High Court has rules guiding it”, the legal luminary said.