The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has released the Osun State Government accounts, which were frozen “to prevent the alleged diversion of public funds.”
The anti-graft agency had, on August 5, placed a post-no-debit on the state government accounts, claiming that it had been investigating the government since March 2026 over the alleged fraudulent handling of about N11 billion in ecology funds, intervention funds, and allocations from the Federation Account Allocation Committee.
The development attracted backlash, as many people considered it a political move to weaken Governor Ademola Adeleke before the just-concluded election.
President Bola Tinubu also referred to the EFCC’s move as shameful and instructed the commission to unfreeze the account.
After being declared the election winner, Adeleke asked the state’s attorney general and commissioner for Justice, Oluwole Jimi-Bada (SAN), to withdraw the lawsuit brought against the EFCC.
However, both the EFCC and the state administration have stayed silent on the issue.
Calls and messages to the EFCC’s spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, went unanswered as of the time of reporting this report.
When reached, Adeleke’s spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, requested additional time to confer with relevant officials before commenting on the issue.
However, as of the date of this article, he has not answered the inquiry on the subject.
However, Temitope Ajayi, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, confirmed to the press on Friday that the accounts had been unfrozen.
He noted that the EFCC could not defy Tinubu’s instruction on the subject.
“The lien has been lifted. EFCC cannot ignore the presidential order. I can confirm to you that it was done immediately.
“If it were 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.
This was as an aide to Adeleke, who spoke with the press on condition of anonymity, also confirmed that the Post No Debit order on the accounts had been removed.
“The accounts are now functional. That was why Mr Governor directed the Attorney-General to withdraw the suit against EFCC,” he said on Friday in Abuja.
