President Bola Tinubu has ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to lift the freeze order it placed on an Osun State Government’s bank account.
Mr Tinubu gave the directive in a statement he personally signed on Thursday, describing the timing of the EFCC’s action, which came 10 days before the upcoming Osun State governorship election, as deeply embarrassing.
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The directive came amid growing criticisms of the anti-corruption agency’s action, which has increasingly drawn condemnation as a politically motivated step.
On Wednesday, the EFCC asked First Bank to freeze an account belonging to the Osun State Government, days before the 15 August governorship election in which Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party is running against Bola Oyebamiji, the candidate of the president’s party, the All Progressives Congress.
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“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,” Mr Tinubu wrote.
“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.”
The president said he learnt that the EFCC obtained a court order on 5 August (Wednesday) to freeze the Osun State Government’s account.
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But that claim runs counter to EFCC’s framing of the sequence of events.
A viral 5 August letter from the EFCC, which activated the freeze order, only requested First Bank, the state’s banker, to place a Post-No-Debit restriction on a particular account belonging to the state government without citing any court order.
Also, EFCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Wilson Uwujaren, appeared on Arise Television earlier on Thursday to justify the EFCC’s decision to freeze the state government’s account without a court order.
However, the president reiterated in his statement on Thursday that the EFCC obtained a court order to freeze the account, a claim that had never been part of the agency’s narrative regarding the case.
Mr Tinubu admitted that he had not been “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.”
Nevertheless, he said the anti-corruption agency’s action could undermine public confidence in the upcoming electoral process in Osun.
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.
“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,” Mr Tinubu stated.
“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.”
The directive marks a dramatic intervention by the president in a controversy that has dominated political discourse in Osun State over the past 24 hours, after the anti-graft agency froze one of the state’s accounts over an ongoing investigation into the alleged diversion of about N11 billion in public funds.
EFCC earlier justified post-no-debit order not backed by court order
The president’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.
Speaking 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.
According to him, 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.
Running dispute with Osun government
PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that the EFCC placed a “Post No Debit” restriction on an Osun State Government account domiciled with First Bank, an account the state government said is used for workers’ salary payments.
The commission later disclosed that it 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.
Read the president’s full statement below.
STATEHOUSE STATEMENT
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
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