In what appears to be a rare presidential order, President Bola Tinubu has ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to immediately lift the order freezing the account of the Osun State government.
Tinubu in a statement he personally issued on Thursday, said he feels totally embarrassed embarrassed by the action of the anti-graft agency considering the timing.
“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”, Tinubu wrote.
The President explained that the directive to vacate the court order became important as “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 pointed out that since assuming office as president in May 2023, he has maintained that anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies must be allowed to discharge their statutory responsibilities independently, professionally, without fear, favour, or political interference.
Tinubu went further: “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”.
“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.”
Recall, Governor Ademola Adeleke had on Tuesday alerted Nigerians of plans by the EFCC to freeze the state’s accounts, an action that the anti-graft agency later justified .
