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A Nigerian businessman based overseas, Oluwatosin Osasona Adekunle has filed an appeal at the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos State to challenge a notice posted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) declaring him a fugitive.
Adekunle in an affidavit recanted by his lawyers from law firm Akinola LP and dated August 24, 2026, said the EFCC had declared him wanted and posted notices on his social media accounts without any court direction to that effect.
He therefore asked the court to declare the EFCC’s actions as illegal and a violation of his fundamental rights.
The statement before the court stated that: “the declaration and publication of the Petitioner (Oluwatosin Osasona Adekunle) as a WANTED PERSON on 19 August 2026 on the official website of the Respondent (EFCC) without the prior order or permission of the competent Court to that effect is unlawful, illegal, wrong, ultra vires, unconstitutional and constitutes a flagrant violation of the Fundamental Rights of the Petitioner”
Adekunle urged the court to direct the EFCC “to immediately remove from its website and all social media platforms the statement made against the Petitioner, as it violates the Petitioner’s Fundamental rights to personal liberty, private and family life, freedom of movement and the Right not to be subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment as guaranteed” under the constitution.
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He also requested that the anti-graft agency be given an order not to commit any further violations of the agency’s fundamental rights, not to further publish the name of the Petitioner (Oluwatosin Osasona Adekunle) as a fugitive on its official website and social media accounts, as well as a court order mandating the agency to issue a public apology.
Adekunle also sought the sum of N5 million naira as general compensation against the EFCC.
Adekunle explained that the EFCC said he was wanted as a replacement for his partner, Mrs Victoria Chidinma Nwachukwu, who he said had a case before the commission, relating to money laundering and obtaining by false pretenses.
The trouble started when Mrs Nwachukwu set up a private company limited by shares, Oasis Vivacity Global Limited, with her home address as her office address, and made her a director, and signatory to the company accounts without prior notice.
According to Adekunle, when Nwachukwu owed a customer some money, the EFCC could not find him, and resorted to “intimidating and harassing” the customer “with a view to arresting and detaining” the customer in Nwachukwu’s stead, adding, that “there was neither complaint nor prima facie evidence directly linking” the customer “with the crime of money laundering or obtaining under false pretenses other than being an agent.”
His lawyer stated that “The Petitioner and his entire immediate family are now worried because the Respondent (EFCC) has threatened to arrest the Petitioner or his immediate family members, if they are unable to arrest the Petitioner”
Adekunle further raised the question of whether the EFCC “can unilaterally declare the Petitioner a fugitive without a valid court order. The probable answer is No”.
He further stated, “that the right to declare a person a fugitive is not an administrative label that can be used by law enforcement agencies at will; but rather a legal status that requires prior legal authorization. If no arrest warrant has been issued and there has been no legal escape from custody, then the unilateral declaration that a citizen is “wanted” has no legal basis and is an excessive action on the part of the executive and also violates the Petitioner’s basic rights as stated in the constitution.”
There is no definite date for the trial of the lawsuit.
