The Osun State Government has challenged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s (EFCC) decision to freeze the state’s official bank account.
Governor of Osun State, Ademola Adeleke, instructed the Attorney General of the state, Barrister Jimi Bada (SAN), to challenge the freezing of the state’s official bank account by EFCC at the Federal High Court in Osogbo, the state capital.
Governor Adeleke, who described the EFCC’s action as unconstitutional at a press conference in Osogbo, faulted the move, saying the anti-corruption agency instructed the bank to freeze the state government’s account without a court order.
The EFCC’s request was contained in a letter dated August 5, 2026, with reference number CR:3000/EFCC/ABJ/HQ/PFS/TA/OSUN/VOL.17/666, and signed by the commission’s Director of Investigation, Adenike Babalola.
The letter stated: “In furtherance of the above, you are kindly requested to place a Post-No-Debit on the account. This request is made pursuant to Section 38 (1) & (2) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act, 2004 and Section 24 of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.”
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Adeleke attributed the development to an attempt to give the opposition party an advantage over the ruling party in the August 15 governorship election.
“We received a letter from our banker, forwarding a letter from the EFCC, instructing the bank to freeze the Osun State Government Account. This action was taken without any court order”.
“We are supposed to be in a democracy, where the Rule of Law must always prevail. We will therefore not accept a situation where federal agencies trample on the constitutional rights of sub-national governments”, Governor Adeleke stated.
The governor said he was awaiting the EFCC to explain why it froze the Osun State Government Account and provide evidence to justify its action.
EFCC explains
Meanwhile, in a press statement released on Wednesday, August 5, 2026, and signed by the Head of Media and Publicity of the EFCC, Mr Dele Oyewale, the commission said its action was prompted by what it described as the unwarranted movement of funds from the state’s accounts to different suspicious accounts since August 2, 2026.
It said the commission had noticed huge transfers of funds into different corporate entities and had to swiftly halt the trend by freezing the accounts from which the funds were being transferred, stating that the move had nothing to do with the governorship election, it explained.
“The Commission is compelled to publicly address issues about 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 has been busy investigating the Osun State government since March, 2026, regarding alleged fraudulent handling of Ecology Funds, Intervention Funds and Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC account to the tune of N11,000,000,000 (Eleven Billion Naira only).
To this end, some officials of the state government, especially the Accountant General of the State, have had interview sessions with investigators of the EFCC.
“These ongoing investigations of the state government would not have warranted any placement of Post No Debit order on its account but for the noticeable huge transfers of funds into different corporate entities,” it said.
Mr Oyewale explained that the EFCC’s preventive mandate is a public-oriented framework for safeguarding public funds, assets, and resources, saying the commission could not watch idly while a state government’s account was being pillaged.
The statement noted that 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 state’s funds.
It maintained that it would be uncharitable for the commission to allow the excuse of an upcoming election to prevent it from performing its legally assigned functions.
The commission added that it was equally monitoring the finances of other states, including Osun, many of which are under investigation by the EFCC to ensure accountability and probity.
