President Bola Tinubu has directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to return to court and vacate an order freezing an Osun State Government account, in a rare public intervention that has triggered a wave of legal action, political accusations, and questions about the anti-graft agency’s independence.
The controversy erupted after the EFCC confirmed it had restricted an Osun State bank account over suspected diversion of roughly N11 billion in ecological, intervention, and FAAC funds, a move that landed just days before the state’s August governorship election. Tinubu, in a statement through his spokesman Bayo Onanuga, said he was troubled specifically by the timing rather than the EFCC’s mandate itself. “Osun State is only a few days away from its gubernatorial election. Therefore, nothing ought to be done to give an impression that the EFCC or indeed any other agency of the Federal Government is being used to interfere with the election,” he said, adding that he had personally called Governor Ademola Adeleke to inform him of the directive.
Osun State’s government welcomed the intervention as vindication. Commissioner for Information Kolapo Alimi called it “a triumph for the rule of law” while rejecting the EFCC’s justification outright, alleging the freeze was actually aimed at halting palliative payments to workers at the request of an APC governorship candidate. “We don’t loot public funds in Osun State,” he said, accusing the commission of running “a hatchet job for Osun APC” and describing months of unproductive investigation into state officials.
Adeleke followed up with a N2 billion lawsuit against the EFCC, its chairman, and First Bank, arguing the account restriction violated constitutional protections and statutory procedure, and seeking damages for what the suit calls unlawful interference with public funds.
The episode also drew sharp reaction from opposition figures. Atiku Abubakar called the freeze’s timing “a direct assault on the people of Osun State,” warning of a broader pattern of federal agencies targeting opposition-controlled states. The ADC went further, arguing that Tinubu’s ability to order the EFCC’s reversal undermines the agency’s claimed independence, while ADC assembly candidate Ayodele Adio dismissed the Presidency’s framing as “misleading and legally untenable,” noting the EFCC has no authority to vacate a court order even if one existed.
The EFCC, for its part, defended the action as lawful and limited in scope. Spokesperson Wilson Uwujaren said the commission acted under Section 34 of the EFCC Act and Section 7(6) of the Money Laundering Act after observing suspicious fund transfers, stressing the restriction targeted only one account and could legally stand for 72 hours without a court order. “It does not stop the Osun State Government from running the government of the state because they have access to other funds,” he said.
