BREAKING: EFCC Unfreezes Osun Government Accounts

• The EFCC has unfrozen the Osun State Government’s accounts after President Bola Tinubu directed the commission to lift the restriction, allowing the accounts to become fully functional again.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has unfrozen the Osun State Government’s accounts, allowing the state to resume transactions after they were earlier restricted over alleged financial irregularities.

The accounts, domiciled with First Bank of Nigeria and Zenith Bank, were confirmed to be functioning on Friday.

The EFCC had on August 5 placed a Post No Debit order on the accounts, saying it was investigating the state government over the alleged handling of about N11bn in Ecology Funds, Intervention Funds and allocations from the Federation Account Allocation Committee.

The move had triggered criticism, with some Nigerians describing the action as politically motivated and aimed at weakening Governor Ademola Adeleke ahead of the recently concluded Osun State governorship election.

President Bola Tinubu subsequently directed the EFCC to unfreeze the accounts, describing the commission’s action as embarrassing.

A Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, confirmed on Friday that the accounts had been unfrozen.

“The lien has been lifted. EFCC cannot ignore the presidential order. I can confirm to you that it was done immediately,” Ajayi said.

He added that the fact that the Osun State Government was no longer pursuing the matter in court was an indication that the restriction had been lifted.

“If it was not lifted, the Osun State Government would have made it a campaign issue. The fact that they are not talking about it shows it has been done,” he said.

An aide to Governor Adeleke, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also confirmed that the Post No Debit order had been vacated.

“The accounts are now functional. That was why Mr Governor directed the Attorney-General to withdraw the suit against EFCC,” the aide said.

Following Adeleke’s declaration as winner of the election, the governor had directed the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Oluwole Jimi-Bada, SAN, to withdraw the suit filed against the EFCC.

The EFCC and the state government had, however, remained largely silent on the development, while efforts to obtain comments from the commission’s spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, and the state Commissioner for Finance, Sola Ogungbile, were unsuccessful.

Adeleke’s spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, also requested time to consult relevant officials before commenting on the matter but had not responded as of the time of filing the report.

The unfreezing of the accounts brings a new development to the controversy surrounding the EFCC investigation and its decision to restrict access to the state government’s funds.