The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has distanced itself from Ibrahim Mohammed, a police lawyer who lodged criminal charges against former Minister of Aviation, Senator Stella Oduah.
In a statement to the Federal High Court, the anti-graft agency clarified that Mohammed lacked the authority to file such charges.
According to EFCC's counsel, Heleen Okonofua, Mohammed was de-seconded from the EFCC and returned to the Police on November 4, 2022. Since then, he had no official affiliation with the agency. The criminal charge, filed on June 22, 2023, in the name of EFCC, was unauthorised and lacked approval from the agency.
Justice James Omotoso, on July 11, had handed over the police lawyer to the EFCC for initiating frivolous criminal charges against Oduah. During the proceedings, the judge questioned Mohammed about whether he had the consent of EFCC to file the charges, to which he responded negatively. Mohammed admitted to mistakenly using the name of EFCC, attributing the error to human fallibility.
In response to the incident, the EFCC vowed to conduct an investigation into Mohammed's actions and report its findings to the court. The case has been adjourned to October 4, 2023.