NewsNigeriaPoliticsTinubu Orders EFCC to Unfreeze Osun Government Accounts Ahead of Election

President Bola Tinubu has directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to return to court and vacate an order freezing the accounts of the Osun State Government, saying the timing of the action could undermine public confidence in the state’s forthcoming governorship election.

Tinubu gave the directive in a statement issued from the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja, on Thursday, a day after the EFCC secured the court order.

The President said he was “deeply embarrassed” by the timing of the anti-graft agency’s action, stressing that federal government actions were often attributed to him even when he had no prior knowledge of them.

“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,” he stated.

Tinubu said his administration had consistently maintained that law enforcement and anti-corruption agencies should be allowed to carry out their statutory duties independently and professionally.

He said he had deliberately avoided interfering in the operational activities of the EFCC and other investigative and prosecutorial agencies because of his commitment to strengthening democratic institutions and the rule of law.

In his words, “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.”

The President, however, said he had not been fully briefed on the facts that led the EFCC to seek a freezing order from the court.

He said the timing was particularly concerning because Osun State was only days away from its governorship election.

“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,” he said.

Tinubu warned that the action could create the perception that the EFCC or another federal agency was being deployed to influence the election.

According to him, “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.”

He said his intervention was necessary in the overriding public interest and to protect confidence in Nigeria’s democratic process.

“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,” said the President.

President Tinubu consequently ordered the EFCC to immediately return to court to withdraw the order and discontinue its action against the Osun State Government, saying: “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.”