Ayodele Olalere
Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has denied a news story which has gone viral claiming he filed a suit against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, before a Federal High Court in Abuja over an alleged plan by the anti-graft agency to arrest and prosecute him for corruption after leaving office.
In a statement by the Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Lawal Pedro (SAN), the governor said he was not aware of such a suit as there are no such plans by EFCC.
“Our attention has been drawn to the news circulating in a section of the media, titled: ‘Sanwo-Olu Sues EFCC over alleged plan to arrest, prosecute him after tenure.”
“We need to clarify that Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, at no time, sued or briefed any legal practitioner to file a suit on his behalf concerning the above subject matter.
“Also, it is disingenuous for the governor who enjoys immunity as conferred on him by the constitution and has almost three years ahead of him to brief any lawyer on this kind of matter,” it stated.
It added: ” To the best of my knowledge, my inquiry confirmed that the EFCC is not investigating the governor and has never invited him or threatened arrest of any member of his staff, domestic or otherwise.
We are currently investigating how the case came to be without our knowledge.
For the avoidance of doubt, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu has been an exemplar in terms of service delivery, prudent and judicious management of the public resources.
Therefore, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu who is busy working assiduously on how to improve the living conditions of all Lagosians does not have anything to fear when he eventually leaves office at the end of his tenure in May 2027.
We, therefore, enjoin media organisations to be wary of the kind of reports they entertain and publish on their respected platforms in order not to mislead the public.”