President Bola Tinubu has directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to withdraw the court order freezing an account belonging to the Osun State Government, citing concerns over the timing of the action ahead of the state’s governorship election.
In a statement personally signed on Thursday, Tinubu said he was “deeply embarrassed” not by the EFCC’s exercise of its statutory powers, but by the timing of the agency’s decision.
“Accordingly, I have directed the EFCC to immediately proceed to the court to vacate the order and discontinue whatever action it has instituted against the Osun State Government in this regard,” the president said.
Tinubu explained that he intervened because actions taken by federal institutions are often attributed to the presidency, regardless of whether he had prior knowledge of them.
“Every action taken by an institution of state, especially at the federal level, is always credited to me as President, even when I may not have had any prior knowledge of the action,” he said.
The president reiterated that since assuming office in May 2023, he has allowed anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies to operate independently without political interference.
“I have consistently maintained that anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies must be allowed to discharge their statutory responsibilities independently, professionally, without fear or favour or political interference,” he said.
Tinubu added that although he was yet to receive the full details of the case, the timing of the account freeze made presidential intervention necessary.
“Osun State is only a few days away from its governorship election. Therefore, nothing ought to be done to create the impression that the EFCC or any other federal agency is being used to influence the electoral process,” he said.
The directive follows a dispute between the Osun State Government and the anti-graft agency over the freezing of one of the state’s bank accounts.
Governor Ademola Adeleke had on Tuesday accused the EFCC of placing the salary account on a “Post No Debit” restriction and alleged that the commission was planning to freeze the accounts of other senior government officials.
Calling on the EFCC to justify its action, Adeleke said the agency should provide evidence to support its decision.
In response, the EFCC defended the account freeze, saying it acted after detecting what it described as suspicious movement of public funds.
“The Commission noticed huge transfers of funds into different corporate entities and had to swiftly halt the trend by freezing the accounts from which such heavy funds are being moved,” the agency said.
The EFCC maintained that the action was taken in line with its statutory responsibility to safeguard public funds and insisted it could not ignore suspected financial irregularities because of the forthcoming governorship election.
“It will be uncharitable for the Commission to allow an excuse of an upcoming election to fold its arms and fail to perform its legally assigned functions,” the agency said.
The account freeze has sparked political controversy ahead of the August 15 governorship election, with opposition figures accusing the Federal Government of targeting the Osun administration, an allegation the EFCC has denied.
