By Vivian Daniel

A fresh legal challenge to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission’s (ICPC) power to freeze bank accounts has been thrown out by the Federal High Court in Abuja, with the court warning against attempts to destabilise Nigeria’s judicial process through repetitive and frivolous litigation.

According to a press statement signed by the Spokesperson for the Commission, John Okor Odey, on 20 November 2025, the suit, filed by Messrs. James Erebuoye, Emon Aje Okune, and Dorason Global Construction Ltd., sought to invalidate the Post-No-Debit (PND) directives earlier issued by the ICPC on their accounts.

But Justice Emeka Nwite, in a firm ruling, dismissed the case, stating that it constituted “a classical act of abuse of court process.” In his words, the action was “a clear attempt to create judicial anarchy by re-litigating matters already settled by a court of competent and coordinate jurisdiction.”

Investigations show that the plaintiffs had earlier filed two similar suits at the FCT High Court – CV/2278/2020 and CV/2279/2020 – challenging the same ICPC directives. Both suits were dismissed in 2021 by Justice Babangida Hassan, who upheld the Commission’s statutory power under Section 45(1) of the ICPC Act to impose PND restrictions without first obtaining a court order.

Despite appealing that ruling, the plaintiffs approached the Federal High Court with a new suit seeking identical reliefs, including a claim of ₦95,287,200 in damages, an action the court described as an improper attempt to shop for a favourable verdict.

Justice Nwite stressed that the Federal High Court could not revisit issues already determined by a court of similar standing.

“A court of coordinate jurisdiction cannot sit on appeal over the decision of another court of equal status,” he declared whilst noting that the plaintiffs ought to await the outcome of their pending appeal at the Court of Appeal.

The court upheld the Preliminary Objection filed by the ICPC, Polaris Bank, and Sterling Bank, ruling that it lacked jurisdiction to entertain the suit. Consequently, the judge dismissed the matter and awarded costs of ₦200,000 each to the three respondents: ICPC, Polaris Bank, and Sterling Bank, amounting to a total of ₦600,000 against the plaintiffs.

Legal analysts describe the ruling as a robust reaffirmation of ICPC’s authority to deploy Post-No-Debit mechanisms during investigations, and a strong message against forum shopping, judicial manipulation, and attempts to derail anti-corruption processes.