President Bola Tinubu has ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to lift the freeze placed on an Osun State Government bank account, saying the timing of the action ahead of the governorship election was inappropriate
In a statement he personally signed on Thursday, the president said he was “deeply embarrassed” by the timing of the EFCC’s decision, which came about 10 days before the 15 August governorship election.
“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. This is so because every action taken by an institution of State, especially at the Federal level, is always credited to me, as the President, even when I may not have had any prior knowledge of the action,” Tinubu said.
Although he maintained that he does not interfere in the operations of the EFCC or other investigative agencies, Tinubu said the proximity of the election made it necessary for him to step in.
“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.
“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,” he added.
The EFCC had frozen the account on Wednesday over allegations of fraudulent handling of N11 billion in ecology funds, social intervention funds and federal allocations. The commission said the restriction was aimed at preventing the movement of funds into other suspicious accounts.
Tinubu’s directive came just hours after the EFCC defended its decision to place the restriction on the account without first obtaining a court order.
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