Nigeria: Tinubu Directs EFCC to Lift Freezing Order On Osun Govt's Account

What the report says

President Bola Tinubu has directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to lift a court-backed freeze on an account belonging to the Osun State Government, according to Premium Times’ report republished by AllAfrica. Tinubu said he was troubled not by the anti-graft agency’s mandate, but by the timing of the action, which came only days before Osun’s 15 August governorship election.

The report says the decision follows criticism that the restriction could be seen as politically motivated, since Governor Ademola Adeleke is seeking reelection and his party is facing the president’s party, the All Progressives Congress. Tinubu said no federal agency should create the impression of interference in the vote and argued that preserving public confidence in the democratic process required intervention.

EFCC officials defended the restriction earlier on Thursday, saying it was prompted by suspicious movements on the account and was meant to protect public funds during an investigation. The commission said it had been probing the state since March over alleged misuse of about N11 billion in ecology, intervention and federal allocation funds. It also maintained that only one account was restricted, not all state accounts.

The Osun government and some lawyers, including the Nigerian Bar Association president, had challenged the move as unlawful and improper without judicial approval. In general background, disputes over freezing government accounts often raise questions about the balance between anti-corruption enforcement, due process and election-period neutrality.