Court slams EFCC with N10m for defaming ex-Power Minister Agunloye

Justice Peter Kekemeke of the FCT High Court in Maitama, Abuja, yesterday found the EFCC guilty of defaming former Power Minister Dr Olu Agunloye. The commission had published on its website and X handle that Agunloye was being arraigned over a $6 billion fraud, but the judge ruled that the criminal charge against him contains no mention of fraud whatsoever.

The court declared the publication false and defamatory, ordered EFCC to retract it and publish a public apology in two national dailies, and awarded N10 million in damages. EFCC's counsel Dr Wahab Shittu, SAN, has already said they will appeal, claiming the case was premature because the criminal trial is not concluded.

So an anti-corruption agency can just slap a sensational headline on anyone's name, damage their reputation, and when the court calls them out, they run to appeal instead of owning up. How many innocent Nigerians have had their lives ruined by EFCC's reckless publications that never get corrected?