President Bola Tinubu on Thursday ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to unfreeze the bank account of the Osun State Government.
He said in a statement he signed that the timing of the anti graft agency’s action which was exactly 10 days to the August 15 Osun State governorship election, was deeply embarrassing.
The President gave the directive amid growing criticisms of the anti-corruption agency’s action, which has increasingly drawn condemnation as a politically motivated step.
EFCC had on Wednesday frozen the state government’s account domiciled with the First Bank in Osogbo, over alleged investigation of a purported looting of N11 billion through alleged suspicious withdrawals.
The freezing was done 10 days before the 15 August governorship election in which Governor Ademola Adeleke is running on the platform of the Accord Party against the president’s party, the All Progressives Congress.
But President Tinubu wrote, “I must state that I feel deeply embarrassed not by the EFCC’s exercise of its mandate backed by a court order, but by the timing of the agency’s action.
“This is so because every action taken by an institution of State, especially at the Federal level, is always credited to me, as the President, even when I may not have had any prior knowledge of the action.”
He said while he intentionally refrained from directing or interfering in the operational activities of the EFCC or any other investigative or prosecutorial agency, he felt compelled to intervene in the Osun State matter.
According to him, “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.
“Based on the foregoing premise, I am duty-bound to issue a directive on this issue in consonance with the overriding public interest in preserving public confidence and the integrity, credibility, and fairness of our democratic process.”
Following is the President’s full statement titled “PRESIDENT TINUBU DIRECTS EFCC TO VACATE THE COURT ORDER FREEZING OSUN GOVERNMENT ACCOUNT”
“It has come to my notice that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) obtained a court order on August 5, 2026, freezing the accounts of the Osun State Government. I must state that I feel deeply embarrassed not by the EFCC’s exercise of its mandate backed by a court order, but by the timing of the agency’s action. This is so because every action taken by an institution of State, especially at the Federal level, is always credited to me, as the President, even when I may not have had any prior knowledge of the action.
“Since assuming office, 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. I have therefore deliberately refrained from directing or interfering in the operational activities of the EFCC or any other investigative or prosecutorial agency because I firmly believe that strong democratic institutions, operating within the confines of the law, are indispensable to democratic good governance and the rule of law.
“As President, I am committed to allowing institutions of State to function and take any action they consider necessary in the interest of proper governance without the need for any prior approval. Indeed, that is why institutions are set up by law with clearly defined powers. While I am yet to be fully apprised of the facts which informed the action of EFCC in approaching the court to obtain the said order freezing the Osun State Government account, I am not in the slightest doubt that the timing of the action of EFCC is inauspicious, and therefore I feel compelled to intervene.
“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.
“Based on the foregoing premise, I am duty-bound to issue a directive on this issue in consonance with the overriding public interest in preserving public confidence and the integrity, credibility, and fairness of our democratic process.
“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.
“Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“Bola Ahmed Tinubu
“President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces
“Federal Republic of Nigeria
August 06, 2026”.
The EFCC had said it intervened with the freezing order to stop moving funds from the account into other suspicious accounts.
Tinubu’s directive came just hours after the EFCC defended its decision to place a restriction on an Osun State Government bank account without first obtaining a court order.
During an interview on Arise Television on Thursday, the EFCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Wilson Uwujaren, said the anti-graft agency acted after detecting what it described as suspicious movements of funds from the account.
He said the restriction was intended to preserve public funds while investigations continue.
“We observed in the past one week that activities on that account looked suspicious, and based on the mandate of the Commission, we took the step of placing a restriction on that account to preserve it,” Mr Uwujaren said.
He said the commission did not freeze all the accounts belonging to the Osun State Government but only imposed a restriction on one account under investigation.
The commission’s defence comes amid growing criticisms of the enforcement action, which came less than two weeks before the governorship election.
Some lawyers, including the president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Afam Osigwe, have argued that the EFCC lacked the power to order a bank to restrict access to a government’s bank account, and that if it must do so, it must be based on a court order.
Rejecting the account restriction, the Osun State Government has also read political motivation into the EFCC’s action.
The state government described the action as unlawful and politically motivated.
Responding to criticism that the commission acted without judicial approval, Mr Uwujaren maintained that the EFCC possesses statutory powers to impose a temporary restriction on accounts suspected to be linked to financial crimes.
He cited Section 34 of the EFCC Act and Section 7(6) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022 as empowering the commission to take such action.
According to him, the restriction can remain in place for up to 72 hours before the commission would be required to seek a court order if further restraint becomes necessary.
He also dismissed concerns that the restriction would cripple governance in Osun, noting that the state still has access to other accounts for its operations.
Osun State Government had said it uses the account on which the EFCC placed a “Post No Debit” restriction for workers’ salary payments.
But EFCC said tit had been investigating the Osun State Government since March over the alleged fraudulent handling of about N11 billion in Ecology Funds, Intervention Funds and Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) allocations.
