Appeal Court Bars EFCC From Investigating Ex-Governor Fayemi, Others Over Ekiti Airport Project
Appeal Court Bars EFCC From Investigating Ex-Governor Fayemi, Others Over Ekiti Airport Project
Justice Affen held that the proper course available to the commission, if dissatisfied with the earlier Federal High Court decision, was to challenge it on appeal rather than ignore or act contrary to it.
The Court of Appeal sitting in Ado-Ekiti has issued a perpetual injunction restraining the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from inviting or investigating former Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi and other current or former state officials over matters relating to the state’s public accounts, including the controversial Ekiti Airport Project.
The appellate court, in a unanimous judgement delivered on May 8, 2026, by Justice Peter O. Affen, held that the anti-graft agency lacked the legal authority to continue its investigation in view of an existing court judgement limiting its powers in relation to the state’s public finances.
According to the Certified True Copy of the judgement obtained by Nairametrics, the court ruled that the EFCC could not rely on provisions of the EFCC Act to override a subsisting constitutional interpretation already made by a court of competent jurisdiction.
The case stemmed from the EFCC’s investigation into allegations of money laundering, contract inflation, abuse of office and embezzlement linked to the Ekiti Airport Project executed during Fayemi’s administration.
An earlier decision by the trial court had only partly favoured Fayemi and the Ekiti State Attorney General, ruling that the EFCC could not compel the former governor to carry placards bearing allegations of criminal offences before any conviction by a competent court.
However, the trial court refused to grant broader reliefs seeking to permanently stop the EFCC from investigating the former governor and other state officials over the management of Ekiti State’s finances. Dissatisfied with that aspect of the ruling, the appellants, through their counsel, Chief R.O. Balogun (SAN), approached the Court of Appeal.
In overturning that portion of the lower court’s judgement, the appellate court ruled that the EFCC was not at liberty to continue the investigative steps it had initiated against Fayemi and several serving and former officials of the state government.
Justice Affen held that the proper course available to the commission, if dissatisfied with the earlier Federal High Court decision, was to challenge it on appeal rather than ignore or act contrary to it.
The court consequently restrained the EFCC from inviting or further inviting Fayemi, the Ekiti State Attorney General, the former Commissioner for Finance, the Accountant-General and other officials over contracts, income, expenditure and other financial activities of the Ekiti State Government.
The appellate court further ruled that responsibility for auditing and investigating the public accounts of the Ekiti State Government is constitutionally vested in the Ekiti State Auditor-General and the Ekiti State House of Assembly.
It therefore granted several reliefs earlier rejected by the trial court, effectively preventing the EFCC from pursuing the disputed investigation.
The dispute began in 2022 when the EFCC launched what it described as discreet investigations into alleged financial crimes connected to the Ekiti Airport Project.
On May 10, 2023, the commission also received a petition from the Ekiti Patriotic Consultative Forum alleging abuse of office, contract inflation and diversion of public funds against Fayemi. The petition prompted the anti-graft agency to invite the former governor and demand explanations over the allegations.
The Ekiti State Attorney General, however, responded by drawing the EFCC’s attention to an earlier judgement delivered by the Federal High Court in Suit No. FHC/AD/CS/32/2016, presided over by Justice Taiwo Taiwo, which the state argued barred the commission from investigating the state’s public accounts and finances.
Despite the objection, the EFCC reportedly continued its investigation and requested financial records relating to state appropriations, federal allocations, tax refunds and internally generated revenue from government officials, leading to fresh litigation.
The Ekiti Airport Project, which remains at the centre of the legal dispute, was inaugurated for public use on October 15, 2022, after the first aircraft landed at the facility. The project was executed by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC).
The airport project has attracted sustained public scrutiny, with civil society groups repeatedly demanding full disclosure of the project’s cost, funding structure, loan agreements and procurement process.
In a related development, a Federal High Court in Abuja ruled in December 2025 that the EFCC violated the fundamental rights of the former Director-General of the Ekiti State Bureau of Public Procurement, O’Seun Odewale, after detaining him for three days during investigations into the airport project.
Background
SaharaReporters had previously reported allegations linking former Ekiti State Governor Fayemi to the financing of the multi-billion-naira Amandla Resort and Conference Centre in Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State.
Sources familiar with ongoing inquiries alleged that funds allocated to the Ekiti State Airport project were diverted to finance the hospitality and conference facility, a claim Fayemi has not publicly addressed.
The airport project, initiated under Fayemi’s administration, had long attracted controversy. Although it was commissioned in October 2022 shortly before the end of his tenure, key infrastructure, including the air traffic control tower, remained incomplete at the time.
The facility eventually commenced commercial operations in December 2025 under Governor Biodun Oyebanji, who disclosed that the project ultimately cost about N49.7 billion, with Fayemi’s administration contributing approximately N14 billion and the current administration spending over N34 billion to complete it.
SaharaReporters also reported that Fayemi was questioned by the EFCC in June 2023 over a separate alleged N4 billion money laundering investigation.
The former governor and his wife, Erelu Bisi-Adeleye Fayemi, are founders of the Amandla Institute for Policy and Leadership Advancement, which operates the Amandla Resort and Conference Centre.
Fayemi did not respond to SaharaReporters’ requests for comment on the allegations linking the airport project to the resort.
