Court Allows EFCC To Probe Ex-Bauchi PDP Chairman

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has secured a court judgement allowing it to continue the probe of a former Bauchi State chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Hamza Akuyam and his company, Pentech Engineering Nigeria Ltd, over alleged financial crimes.

The EFCC, in a statement posted on its official Facebook Page, indicated that while delivering judgment on July 30, 2025, the judge of Bauchi State High Court, Justice Aliyu Baba, dismissed an application to restrain the EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) from probing him.

Akuyam had on September 23, 2024, filed a suit supported by a 31-paragraph affidavit, asking the court to grant him a perpetual injunction stopping the EFCC, ICPC, their agents, or collaborators from investigating or prosecuting him in connection with a contract financing agreement between the Bauchi State Ministry of Finance (Treasury Division) and his company.

The anti-graft agency revealed that in his ruling, Justice Baba held that courts lacked the powers to prevent law enforcement agencies from carrying out their constitutional functions.

He said, “This honourable court and indeed courts of law lack requisite powers to restrain by perpetual order or any other order the law enforcement, in this case EFCC and ICPC, from performing its legitimate function of investigation and prosecution of money laundering, corruption, economic and financial crimes or any other related offences.”

The judge, therefore, gave the EFCC the go-ahead to continue with its probe.

According to EFCC, Akuyam had earlier been invited for questioning, but instead of honouring the invitation, he resorted to legal action against the anti-graft agency.