A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) sitting in Maitama has ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to pay N10 million in damages to former Minister of Power, Dr Olu Agunloye, after ruling that the anti-graft agency defamed him through false publications on its official website and social media platforms.
The court held that the EFCC wrongly portrayed Agunloye as being prosecuted for fraud in connection with an alleged $6 billion case, despite no such charge appearing in the criminal proceedings against him.
Delivering judgment on Wednesday, Justice Peter Kekemeke found that Agunloye successfully proved his claim of defamation in a suit marked FCT/HC/CV/1199/2024.
The former minister, through his lawyer, Adeola Adedipe (SAN), had challenged an EFCC publication titled, ‘EFCC arraigns Agunloye over $6 billion fraud’, arguing that the statement was false, damaging to his reputation, and unsupported by the charges filed against him.
The court agreed with the claimant, holding that the publication met the legal requirements for defamation because it was made in a permanent form, clearly identified Agunloye by name, and was capable of lowering his reputation in the estimation of reasonable members of the public.
Justice Kekemeke ruled that the EFCC failed to establish the truth of its claims and instead published a misleading account of the criminal proceedings.
According to the judge, the EFCC’s only witness in the case, Assistant Commissioner of Police Umar Hussain Babangida, initially denied knowledge of the publication before later admitting that it originated from the commission’s media department.
The court considered the admission significant in determining the agency’s responsibility for the publication.
Justice Kekemeke further clarified that Agunloye’s suit was not an attempt to challenge the statutory powers of the EFCC to investigate financial crimes, as argued by the commission. Rather, he said the case centred on whether the agency published false and defamatory statements that inaccurately represented the charges before the court.
After examining the criminal charge pending against Agunloye before the High Court of the FCT in Apo, the judge said there was nowhere in the court documents where the former minister was accused of fraud. He observed that none of the exhibits presented during the hearing contained any allegation of fraud, making the headline used by the EFCC inaccurate and sensational.
The court also held that the EFCC, as an investigative agency rather than a news organisation, had a duty to present accurate information to the public. Justice Kekemeke stated that the commission knew Agunloye was neither facing a fraud charge nor involved in any $6 billion fraud, yet proceeded to publish a headline suggesting otherwise.
In his decision, the judge concluded that Agunloye had successfully established malice on the part of the EFCC and resolved all the issues raised in the suit in his favour. He consequently declared that the publications made on the commission’s official website and its X handle were false, defamatory and did not fairly reflect the actual court proceedings involving the former minister.
The judgment also awarded Agunloye N10 million in damages for the injury caused to his reputation. Counsel to the EFCC, however, indicated that the commission would challenge the ruling, signalling its intention to file an appeal against the High Court’s decision.
