A Federal High Court in Lagos has fined the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for unlawfully declaring Margaret Emefiele, wife of the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, wanted.
Justice D. I. Dipeolu ruled on June 28 that the publication of her name and photograph on the website of the EFCC without an order of court violated her rights as guaranteed by the constitution.
Mrs. Emefiele filed the suit on February 14, 2024, noting that the publication of her name and photograph on the website of the EFCC as “wanted” without any formal invitation extended to her and without any valid charge and or a court order to the effect amounts to a violation of her fundamental right to the dignity of her person.
She further held that, “That there is no criminal charge filed against her that is pending before any competent courts of law in Nigeria. That her attention was drawn to certain publications of the respondents on its websites wherein she, and other 3 persons were declared wanted.
“That as at 17.06pm on February 11, 2024, the X handle (formerly Tweeter) which has over 2.1 million followers, the said publication has been viewed by over 98,800 persons and reposted 455 times, that the publication generated a lot of concerns and have caused several persons to call her and reach out to her.”
But the EFCC in its response argued that all efforts to contact her to respond to corruption and money laundering case they were investigating at the CBN were unsuccessful.
In addition, the commission claimed that their action of publishing Mrs. Emefiele as a wanted person was based on the orders of court, directing it to arrest the applicant and produce her in court.
Ruling on the case, Justice Dipeolu held that the applicant was able to prove that she has suffered damages as a result of the conduct of the anti-graft agency.
The court granted N3 million as damages to the complainant.
