The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has condemned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the freezing of the Osun State Government bank account, saying the anti-graft agency lacks the constitutional power to impose a blanket restriction on a state’s finances without due legal process.
The EFCC directed on Wednesday that no funds be removed from the Osun State Government’s statutory allocation account as part of an ongoing investigation.
A letter dated August 5, 2026, and signed by the EFCC’s Assistant Commander, Adenike Babalola, for the Director of Investigation, directed the bank to apply a post-no-debit restriction on the account awaiting the conclusion of the investigation.
The letter, 3000/EFCC/ABJ/HQ/PFS/TA/OSUN/VOL.17/666, was addressed to First Bank’s managing director and the chief compliance officer.
It listed the impacted account as “Osun State Government Statutory Allocation” (account number 2017170947).
The EFCC stated in a statement on Wednesday night that the action followed unusual movement of monies during an ongoing investigation into alleged fraudulent handling of about N11 billion in ecology monies, intervention funds, and Federal Account Allocation Committee allocations.
In a statement signed on Wednesday by its Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, the anti-graft agency said it was “compelled to publicly address issues pertaining to its preventive moves in freezing the bank account of the Osun State government, without prejudice to the imminent governorship election in the state.”
The commission stated that it had been investigating the state government since March 2026 for alleged fund misuse and that its inspectors had interrogated certain individuals, including the state’s accountant-general.
According to the statement, the decision to issue a post-no-debit order on the account was prompted by suspicious financial movements discovered beginning August 2, 2026.
“These ongoing investigations of the state government would not have warranted any placement of a post-no-debit order on its account but for the precipitate and unwarranted movement of funds from the accounts to different suspicious accounts since August 2, 2026.
“The Commission noticed huge transfers of funds into different corporate entities and had to swiftly halt the trend by freezing the accounts from which such heavy funds are being moved,” it said.
The Commission insisted its action was not politically motivated despite the timing ahead of the Osun governorship election, stressing that it could not overlook financial infractions on account of the poll.
“While the commission is fully aware of the impending governorship election in Osun State, it has a responsibility to act in defense of the sanctity of the funds of the state. It will be uncharitable for the Commission to allow an excuse of an upcoming election to fold its arms to perform its legally assigned functions.”
The EFCC also revealed that Osun was not the only state under its watch, noting that several other states remained under investigation.
“The commission has always pointed out that it is non-partisan and non-sectarian but always working in the overall interests of Nigerians,” it said.
It called on the public to disregard claims that the action was politically motivated, stating, “The public is enjoined to ignore false narratives and deliberate demonization of the works of the EFCC. The interests of all Nigerians are greater and will always be protected by the commission.”
However, NBA president Afam Osigwe (SAN) warned in an interview on Wednesday that any regulation limiting withdrawals from a state government’s accounts would effectively destroy administration and constitute an abuse of authority.
His comments came after the EFCC directed First Bank to impose a no-debit restriction on Osun State’s statutory allocation account as part of an ongoing investigation, a move that has sparked legal and political debate ahead of the state’s governorship election on August 15.
Osigwe conceded that the EFCC might seek court orders against specific accounts suspected of fraud, but he claimed that the agency could not properly freeze all state government accounts.
He said, “No government agency or any person has the right or the power to restrict withdrawals from the account of any state because, first of all, the order has the effect of grounding the activities of a government. If the EFCC knows that any particular account is being used for the purpose of fraud, it may be able to obtain a court order, but it cannot make a blanket order freezing the accounts of any state.”
The senior advocate added, “Such an order would be unconstitutional and also violate the powers of the EFCC and may actually amount to an abuse of power. We should not have such a situation.”
He emphasized that any decision to freeze the account of an individual or government institution must be supported by sufficient legal grounds and a valid court order.
According to him, “If there is a need to freeze the account of a person or government, there is a need to provide a proper basis for it and get a proper order.”
Although he mentioned that he was unaware whether the EFCC had indeed issued such a directive, Osigwe advised banks not to comply with any instruction seeking to halt transactions across all state government accounts.
He stated, “I don’t think it would be proper if indeed the EFCC made such an order. I’m not aware of it, but if they made such an order, I would advise that no bank should obey such an order.”
He also called on the anti-graft agency to avoid actions capable of creating the impression that it intended to financially cripple a state government.
