AGF WITHDRAWS FALANA’S FIAT TO PROSECUTE ZINOX CHAIRMAN LEO STAN EKEH, 12 OTHERS IN 13-YEAR-OLD CASE
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By Aishat Momoh. O.
The Office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice has officially withdrawn the legal fiat earlier granted to human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, authorizing him to prosecute a long-running case against the Chairman of Zinox Technologies, Leo Stan Ekeh, and 12 others.
This marks the second time such a fiat has been rescinded by the AGF in the protracted dispute, which spans over 13 years and stems from a controversial transaction between Citadel Oracle Concept Limited (COCL), an Ibadan-based tech firm, and Technology Distributions Limited, involving the supply of computers to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
According to the AGF, the transaction in question — in which Technology Distributions extended full credit to COCL — had no direct connection to Zinox Technologies or its chairman, Leo Stan Ekeh.
In a letter dated May 2, 2025, and addressed to the Principal Partner of Falana & Falana Chambers, the AGF, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, through the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, M. B. Abubakar, directed Falana to immediately withdraw Charge No: FCT/HC/CR/985/2024 (FRN v. Leo Stan Ekeh & 12 others), citing the interest of justice and acknowledging that the fiat “ought not to have been donated in the first place.”
The letter, titled “Withdrawal of Authorisation Under Section 174 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as Amended”, also revoked Falana’s authority to prosecute a related matter — Charge No: CR/827/2013 — between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Chris Eze Ozims, the legal adviser to Zinox Technologies, and six others.
The decision was formally communicated to the defendants’ legal counsel, Matthew Burkka & Co., via another letter from the DPPF dated May 6, 2025. “After a consideration of your request, the facts and circumstances of the case, the Attorney General of the Federation has withdrawn the fiat donated to Messrs. Femi Falana SAN,” it read in part.
The withdrawal follows a March 2025 ruling by Justice Akpan Okon Ebong of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Bwari Division, which dismissed the case against Ekeh, his wife Chioma Ekeh, and 11 others. The judge held that the suit, numbered CR/985/2024, amounted to a “gross abuse of court process” and struck it out accordingly.
The contentious case was originally filed in November 2024 by Falana, acting under the now-withdrawn fiat, and included several other defendants: Chris Ozims, Oyebode Folashade, Charles Adigwe, Obilo Onuoha, Agartha Ukoha, Anya Anya, Femi Dosumu, Nnenna Kalu, Admas Digital Technologies Limited, Technology Distributions Limited, and Zinox Technologies Limited.
The fiat had authorized Falana to revive and prosecute the earlier case at the expense of the nominal complainant, Benjamin Joseph, the owner of Citadel Oracle Concept Limited.
With this latest move, the AGF appears to have drawn a definitive line under a case that has persisted for more than a decade, with multiple legal twists and institutional scrutiny.
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