August 10, (THEWILL) — The widespread reaction to and against President Bola Tinubu’s directive to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to unfreeze the salary account of the Osun State Government showed the unusual public attention that heightened insecurity and political tensions in the state have generated in the preceding days. The reactions have been broadly two-phased. While some hold the view that the presidential intervention was timely and welcome, others have expressed the view that the agency could have merely read the body language of the President, a few days after he told the visiting Catholic Bishops of Nigeria, in reaction to some of their perceived hostile remarks, that all is fair in politics. Whatever the position, we salute the president for his intervention. A key word in his directive- timeliness of the Commission’s action- sums up the importance of his intervention.
In a state where over 50 persons have reportedly died from pre-election-related violence and mudslinging has polluted the atmosphere in the name of the campaign, public attention has been riveted on the ensuing tension there. This is more so when the governorship election comes up on August 15, 2026, two days before the official kick-off of the political campaign for the 2027 presidential and National Assembly elections on January 16, 2027.
Given the strategic importance of the governorship poll to the overall calculations for the 2027 general election, loyalists of the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, and Governor Ademola Adeleke and chieftains of their respective political parties, the All Progressives Congress, APC, and the Accord Party, have been trenchant in pushing their respective positions with thugs to the booth.
In this heated state of affairs, EFCC’s clampdown on the state’s salary accounts, a week to the upcoming August 15 governorship poll, could only add fuel to the smouldering fire.
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However, the Commission, in defending its action, said that it has been busy investigating the state government since March, 2026, regarding alleged fraudulent handling of Ecology Funds, Intervention Funds and Federal Account Allocation Committee, FAAC account to the tune of N11 billion.
To this end, the Commission stated that some officials of the state government, especially the Accountant-General of the State, have had interview sessions with investigators of the EFCC. The outcome of its investigation, coupled with “the precipitate and unwarranted movement of funds from the accounts to different suspicious accounts since August 2, 2026,” led to the placement of a Post No Debit order on its account.
According to him, the EFCC’s preventive mandate is a public-inclined framework of safeguarding public funds, assets and resources. This argument is reasonable. The law appears to be on its side. The Commission is empowered by the law to freeze a state government account for only three days without a court order, but it must secure a valid court order from a court of competent jurisdiction to maintain that freeze.
Under Section 34 of the EFCC Establishment Act, the Commission, through an ex parte motion, can apply to a judge for an interim order to freeze accounts linked to ongoing investigations of corruption or financial crimes. Under its emergency powers, Section 7 of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, the Commission can place a temporary stop-order on suspicious accounts for up to 72 hours in urgent situations before approaching the court.
Juxtapose these legal mandates of the Commission with the President’s unfreezing order and the inevitable conclusion is that the Commission showed a glaring lack of timing and, we dare say, lack of tact. “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,” Said President Tinubu in his directive. This ends the matter.
Osun is in such a state of tension that any action linked to the Federal Government could only be interpreted as designed to frustrate the governor, a party in the coming election. We urge all parties in the upcoming poll to see the presidential directive as an opportunity to reflect and conduct their activities with decorum in the governorship election this weekend.
