Court Orders EFCC to Apologise, Pay Agunloye N10m Over Defamatory ‘$6bn Fraud’ Publication

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Oscar Okhifo

A Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja has ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to apologise to former Minister of Power and Steel, Olu Agunloye, and pay him N10 million in damages for defaming him through a publication that linked him to an alleged “$6 billion fraud.”

In a judgment delivered on Wednesday, July 8, 2026, Justice Peter Kekemeke held that the anti-graft agency’s publication was defamatory and directed the EFCC to immediately retract it from its official website and all its social media platforms.

The court also ordered the commission to publish a public apology on its website and in two national newspapers, while restraining it from making further defamatory statements against Agunloye over the matter.

The suit arose from an EFCC publication accusing Agunloye of involvement in an alleged “$6 billion fraud” connected to the controversial Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project.

Agunloye contended that the publication falsely portrayed him as a criminal, exposed him to public ridicule and severely damaged his reputation.

Justice Kekemeke agreed with the former minister, holding that the EFCC’s publication was defamatory and unjustifiably injured his reputation.

“The defendant’s publication describing the claimant as being involved in a ‘$6 billion fraud’ was defamatory and injurious to the claimant’s reputation,” the judge held.

Consequently, the court awarded Agunloye N10 million as general damages.

“The defendant shall pay the claimant the sum of N10 million as general damages for the defamatory publication,” Justice Kekemeke ruled.

The court further ordered the EFCC to retract the publication from its official website and all its social media platforms.

“The defendant is hereby ordered to retract the defamatory publication from its website and all its social media platforms,” the judge said.

Justice Kekemeke also directed the anti-graft agency to issue a public apology to Agunloye, ordering that it be published on the commission’s official website and in two widely circulated national newspapers.

“The defendant shall publish a public apology to the claimant on its official website and in two national newspapers,” the court ordered.

The judge also granted a perpetual injunction restraining the EFCC, its officers, agents or privies from publishing or causing to be published any further defamatory statements against Agunloye in relation to the allegations.

“An order of perpetual injunction is hereby granted restraining the defendant, its officers, agents or privies from further publishing defamatory statements against the claimant in respect of the subject matter,” the court ruled.

The judgment is expected to have significant implications for how public institutions communicate allegations against individuals before they are established in court.

However, the ruling does not determine the merits of any pending criminal proceedings involving Agunloye, but is limited to the defamatory nature of the EFCC’s publication and the injury it caused to his reputation.

Neither the EFCC nor Agunloye had publicly reacted to the judgment at the time of filing this report.