ECOWAS Court rejects Nigeria’s bid to overturn judgment in Gregory Todd case

The ECOWAS Court of Justice has thrown out a fresh attempt by the Nigerian government to reverse a judgment in favour of Australian national Gregory Todd, whose passport was unlawfully seized by Nigeria’s anti-graft agency.

In a ruling delivered on Tuesday, a panel of three justices held that Nigeria’s application for a revision of the Court’s earlier decision lacked merit and failed to meet the legal threshold for reconsideration. 

The panel was presided over by Judge Ricardo Cláudio Monteiro Gonçalves, with Justices Gberi-be Ouattara and Edward Amoako Asante also sitting.

The court reaffirmed its November 6, 2023, judgment, which held that the seizure of Mr. Todd’s passport by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) violated his right to freedom of movement. In that decision, the Court awarded Mr Todd $10,000 in damages for the rights violation and ordered the immediate return of his passport.

Unwilling to let the matter rest, the Nigerian government submitted a revision application on April 5, 2024, citing Articles 92 and 93 of the Court’s rules. It claimed to have discovered new facts that warranted a fresh look at the case.

But the court, in its latest ruling, found that the government had brought nothing new to the table—only a rehash of arguments already addressed in the original case. According to the Court, Nigeria’s filing did not meet the criteria for revision as set out in Article 27 of the ECOWAS Court Protocol (as amended).

Among Nigeria’s arguments was that the ECOWAS Court had no jurisdiction over Mr Todd’s claims as a foreigner and that the case had already been decided by a Federal High Court in Abuja. The government also accused the regional court of acting as an appeals court over national judicial matters.

All these claims were firmly rejected by the justices, who described the revision request as “legally baseless” and an abuse of the court’s post-judgment processes. The Court maintained that all issues raised had been thoroughly dealt with in its previous ruling.

It reaffirmed Nigeria’s obligation to comply fully with the 2023 decision, including the payment of the $10,000 compensation to Mr Todd. The Nigerian government was also ordered to cover Mr Todd’s legal expenses incurred in responding to the revision application.

Gregory Todd arrived in Nigeria in December 2017 to lead development projects focused on job creation, particularly in Akwa Ibom State. Through his company, Serge, he intended to attract investments from Australia, Europe, China, and the UAE.

However, his plans came to a halt on July 23, 2019, when the EFCC confiscated his Australian passport, which crippled his mobility and disrupted his projects, leading him to seek justice from the ECOWAS Court.