A major legal battle has been initiated against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as a civil society organization, Support the Youth Organisation, seeks to force the anti-graft agency to prosecute three former governors of Abia State.
The group has approached the Federal High Court in Abuja with a suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/75/2026, requesting an order of mandamus.
This judicial order would compel the EFCC to fulfill its statutory duty by filing criminal charges against Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, Senator Theodore Orji, and Mr. Okezie Ikpeazu.
Likewise, the former state leaders are being accused of financial irregularities and the mismanagement of public resources during their respective tenures at the helm of Abia State.
According to the court documents filed by the group’s legal representative, Barrister Okoro Nkemakolam, previous investigations by the EFCC allegedly uncovered a massive financial gap involving approximately N1 trillion belonging to the state.
The applicants argue that while the commission has conducted probes into these figures, it has surprisingly failed to move forward with a formal prosecution.
Moreover, the youth organization contends that these funds were originally earmarked for vital development projects that have since stalled or been abandoned.
They specifically pointed to the dire state of infrastructure in Abia, the accumulation of salary arrears for teachers, and the unpaid pensions of retirees as direct consequences of the alleged financial mismanagement.
According to the group, the EFCC has sufficient evidence from its prior probes to initiate criminal proceedings but has remained hesitant to take the former governors to court.
This judicial intervention aims to end that delay and bring the accused to justice.