Court stops EFCC from prosecuting ex-Customs chief Dikko

The Federal High Court, Abuja, on Monday stopped the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) prosecution of a former Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Alhaji Abdullahi Dikko.

Justice Nnamdi Dimgba, who ruled on the application by Dikko, held that the non-prosecution agreement between the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, and the plaintiff, was binding on the Commission.

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The EFCC had insisted that Dikko should be compelled to face trial for alleged financial infractions he committed while heading the Customs.

But the judge said the Commission cannot prosecute the plaintiff because he had a binding agreement with the AGF and the director-general of the Department of State Services (DSS) on the refund of $8 to the Federal Government.

Justice Dimgba said since the former Customs chief had kept his promise by refunding N1,576,000,000 and more to the federal government through the EFCC funds recovery account in Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) he should not be tried by the Commission or any other anti-graft agency in the country on the same alleged crime.

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