Governor Sanwo-Olu never sued EFCC – Lagos govt

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has denied suing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over an allegef plan to arrest and prosecute him after his tenure.

The Lagos State Governemnt, through the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Lawal Pedro, issued the denial in a statement on Wednesday.

The statement clarified that Governor Sanwo-Olu never engaged any lawyer to file such a suit and had no reason to do so.

“We need to clarify that Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, at no time, sued or briefed any legal practitioner to file a suit on his behalf concerning the above subject matter,” the statement read in part.

He continued, “It is disingenuous for the Governor who enjoys immunity as conferred on him by the Constitution and has almost three years ahead of him to brief any lawyer on this kind of matter.”

Mr Pedro also denied the claim that the EFCC was investigating the Lagos State Governor. He insisted that the EFCC had never extended any invitation or threatened to arrest him or any member of his staff.

He disclosed that the origin of such purported reports is being investigated and cautioned media organisations to desist from circulating such misleading reports without proper investigation.

In the press statement, Mr Pedro assured that Governor Sanwo-Olu’s judicious management of the state’s resources leaves him with no concern when he leaves office.

“For the avoidance of doubt, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu has been an exemplar in terms of service delivery, prudent and judicious management of the public resources.

“Therefore, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu who is busy working assiduously on how to improve the living conditions of all Lagosians does not have anything to fear when he eventually leaves office at the end of his tenure in May 2027.”

Back story

On Tuesday, a report had circulated that the Lagos State Governor had filed a suit through his lawyer, Darlington Ozurumba.

According to the report, Mr Ozurumba had served the anti-graft agency, but the EFCC’s counsel had denied seeing the court documents.

The report said that Governor Sanwo-Olu sought a declaration that the threat of his arrest and detention was illegal, unconstitutional and a violation of his fundamental rights.

It added that the Lagos State Governor reportedly sought an order restraining the EFCC from harassing, arresting and detaining him over his governance.

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The report also stated that, in an affidavit filed in support of the suit, the deponent, Martha Kanu, claimed she was briefed on the suit’s details by the governor via tele-conference. The deponent said she believed the governor’s briefing to be true. She reportedly said that governor told her that EFCC officials planned to arrest his aides and family members over allegations of diversion of funds.