Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) has condemned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the freezing of the Osun State Government bank account, saying the anti-graft agency should not be used as a political tool to witch-hunt political rivals.
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 defence 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.”
Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, asked the Osun State Government to seek court remedy if the ban was deemed unlawful.
He said, “If the state government has any valid reason, it can use legal means to seek the reopening of its account.”
Debo Adeniran, Chairman of the Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, stated that the EFCC would be justified if it had a reasonable suspicion that public funds were being misappropriated, but emphasized that the commission’s action must be evidence-driven rather than politically motivated.
“If it is merely for political considerations, then it will not be justifiable. The commission doesn’t have the right to stop government activities just because of politics,” Adeniran said.
According to the Peering Advocacy and Advancement Center in Africa, it may be inappropriate for an anti-corruption agency such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to block the Osun government’s accounts without a legitimate justification.
The Centre’s Executive Director, Ezenwa Nwagwu, said this on Wednesday while speaking with the press about the EFCC’s purported restriction of the Osun State Government’s accounts.
Nwagwu, who also stated that the facts about the incident were not immediately available to him, added that there must be some factors that required the restriction.
“In this period of political campaigns and tantrums, it is important that we don’t allow politicians to give us talking points. What may be necessary will be for the media and for interested parties to give the public the true picture of the events, not from the side of the politicians.
“I cannot really imagine that the EFCC will, because of political purposes, go and freeze state government accounts.
“It doesn’t look plausible to me. I do not have the facts from the EFCC. There must be some conditions that necessitated that action.
“The fact that an election is coming does not mean that the EFCC will not do its work. I think Ola Olukayode, the boss of EFCC, will be completely irresponsible to get involved in politics or align an institution like the EFCC to serve the interests of anybody. That does not look possible to me.”
