Court limits ICPC’s authority to freeze bank accounts

Federal High Court in Abuja has ruled that the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) can freeze suspicious bank accounts for a maximum period of 72 hours, saying that allowing the commission to freeze accounts for up to one year, as provided by the ICPC Act, is “totally unreasonable and usurps the powers of the court”.

Delivering judgment in a suit filed by Lawyers Network Against Corruption (LNAC), Justice James Omotosho held that although the rights of citizens to movable property and the privacy of their bank accounts are not absolute, allowing the ICPC to freeze an account for up to one year is likely to lead to abuse of powers by the commission as “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”.

The judgment followed a suit filed by an Abuja-based lawyer, Mr Ezenwa Anumnu, on February 21, 2024, on behalf of the LNAC, complaining that the ICPC and its chairman had unilaterally directed that the bank accounts of citizens be frozen without court orders or recourse to the courts and that they had ordered banks and financial institutions to withhold money and properties of Nigerians found guilty of committing any criminal offence indefinitely without any court order.

According to Justice Omotosho, in his judgment, every citizen of Nigeria has a fundamental right to own movable and immovable property in Nigeria according to Section 44(1) of the Constitution, adding that although the right is guaranteed, it is not absolute and can be curtailed under several circumstances.

Justice Omotosho also said that although the ICPC Act was quite clear on the powers of the ICPC Chairman to direct banks to freeze bank accounts, “freezing an account for up to one year, as argued by the respondents’ counsel, is unreasonable and usurps the powers of the court. Furthermore, it is likely to lead to an abuse of powers by the Respondents. As the saying goes, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

According to him, the ICPC Chairman has the power to freeze suspected bank accounts under Section 45(1) of the ICPC Act, but such orders are only valid for 72 working hours after which they will lapse until extended by a court of law, where investigation has not been completed.