…Governor Adeleke Heads to Court
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has frozen the Osun State Government’s statutory allocation account over an alleged ₦11 billion financial irregularity involving Ecology Funds, Intervention Funds and Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) funds.
The development has sparked a fresh confrontation between the anti-graft agency and Governor Ademola Adeleke, who accused the EFCC of acting unlawfully and ordered the state Attorney-General to challenge the restriction at the Federal High Court.
The dispute comes just 10 days before the Osun State governorship election scheduled for 15 August 2026.
The EFCC, in a statement on Wednesday, said it had been investigating the Osun State Government since March 2026 over the alleged fraudulent handling of the funds totaling ₦11 billion.
According to the commission, some state government officials, particularly the Accountant-General, had appeared before its investigators for questioning as part of the ongoing investigation.
The EFCC said it would not ordinarily have placed a Post No Debit restriction on the state government’s account, but was forced to act after detecting what it described as “precipitate and unwarranted movement of funds” from the accounts into different suspicious accounts from 2 August.
The commission said it noticed substantial transfers to various corporate entities and moved to stop further transactions by freezing the accounts from which the funds were being transferred.
It said the action was part of its preventive mandate to protect public funds and resources, insisting that it could not stand by while public money was allegedly being diverted.
The EFCC also rejected suggestions that the timing of the action was connected to the forthcoming governorship election, saying it was aware of the election but had a responsibility to protect state resources.
The commission said it was also monitoring the finances of other states and maintained that its operations were non-partisan and non-sectarian.
It urged Nigerians to disregard what it described as false narratives and deliberate attempts to discredit its activities, saying the Osun account was frozen to prevent public funds from being looted.
Reacting to the development at a press briefing on Wednesday, the Governor said the state received a letter from its banker, First Bank, forwarding an EFCC directive dated 5 August 2026, signed by Adenike Babalola, an Assistant Commander of the commission, on behalf of the Director of Investigation.
The letter directed the bank to prevent withdrawals from the state government’s statutory allocation account and place a Post No Debit restriction on it pending the conclusion of the investigation.
“As if all these were not enough, this morning, we received a letter from our banker, forwarding a letter from the EFCC, instructing the bank to freeze Osun State Government Account. This action was taken without any court order,” Adeleke said.
“We are supposed to be in a democracy, where the Rule of Law must always prevail. We will therefore, not accept a situation where federal agencies trample on the constitutional rights of subnational governments.
“This is a threat to our democracy. If we all keep quiet and allow this illegality, very soon, whatever is left of our democracy will be fully eroded.
“All I ask is for the EFCC chairman to explain to the good people of Osun State and to Nigerians in general, why he froze the Osun State Government Account, and show proof to support whatever reason he presents.”
Adeleke said he had directed the state Attorney-General to challenge the EFCC’s action at the Federal High Court.
The state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Oluwole Jimi-Bada, SAN, subsequently confirmed that he had the Governor’s mandate to institute legal action against the commission.
According to reports, Adeleke also alleged that his administration had been subjected to a series of politically motivated attacks ahead of the election, including harassment of Accord Party members and efforts to stall local government operations in the state.
He alleged that the attacks were being sponsored by former Osun Governor and Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola, “over an election his candidate cannot win”.
The allegations against Oyetola are political claims by the Governor and were not independently established by Pilot News.
