The proposal for an overhaul has shocked the Economic and Financial Crimes agency, which claims individuals advocating for it are “feeling the heat of the work” of the agency.

Wilson Uwujaren, the Director of Public Affairs for the EFCC, said this in an interview that aired on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Monday.

The validity of the anti-graft agency was contested by sixteen state governments in an appeal to the Supreme Court. The Kogi State Government filed the lawsuit, and other state governments that participated included Ondo, Edo, Oyo, Ogun, and Nassarawa.

A hearing was scheduled on October 22 by a seven-member panel of justices, chaired by Justice Uwani Abba-Aji, on Tuesday.

Uwujaren, however, defended the commission’s importance, saying that it is essential to Nigeria’s war on corruption.

We are very astounded by what is taking place. With the kind of corruption we have, I don’t see how Nigeria can function without the EFCC, thus I think people in the country should see through this charade and reject it. Nigeria is dependent on the EFCC.

Given the level of corruption in our nation, I worry that certain individuals may file a judicial challenge against the EFCC’s legitimacy. I doubt that the EFCC is the biggest issue facing the residents of their states. This is unlikely to be the case. What you are witnessing are merely individuals who are feeling the pressure from the EFCC’s activities and who wish to sabotage its operations.

They perceive the EFCC as a danger, and that is the only thing that is occurring. According to Uwujaren, Nigerians are able to see through the ploy of those who are contesting the commission’s validity.

Those who are pushing for the reform are intent to “derail” the commission’s efforts to combat corruption, according to the EFCC officer, who added, “So, people who are concerned about transparency and accountability will wish for the EFCC to be ‘killed’.” Since that is the goal, allow me to use the word “killed.”

“They don’t want accountability in their domains, so they just want to derail the fight against corruption.”

Lawyers and Senior Advocates Femi Falana and Dr. Olisa Agbakoba have stated differing opinions about the EFCC’s legitimacy in the meanwhile.

Former Nigerian Bar Association President Agbakoba wrote to the National Assembly regarding constitutional concerns regarding Nigerian law enforcement agencies and things that impede the government’s goal of outlawing corruption, as stipulated in Section 13 of the Constitution.

On October 14, 2024, he addressed two different letters to the Senate and the House of Representatives claiming that the EFCC was an illegal body that was, in his opinion, “unconstitutionally established.”

“I firmly feel the EFCC was not established in accordance with the Constitution,” he declared. It was founded with authority that surpasses that of the National Assembly. An unlawful organisation is the EFCC.

But three days later, human rights advocate Falana disagreed with Agbakoba’s viewpoint in a letter to the National Assembly.

He claimed that the EFCC’s creation was an infringement on fundamental federalist principles, which served as the foundation for the former NBA president’s viewpoint.