President Bola Tinubu has said he finds the timing of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC’s action on Osun state bank account embarrassing.
According to President Tinubu, he was yet to be fully apprised of the facts that informed EFCC’s action, but “I feel compelled to intervene”.
In a statement on X (Twitter), the Tinubu said: “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.
action of EFCC.
“While I am yet to be fully apprised of the facts which informed the action of EFCC in approaching the court to obtain the said order freezing the Osun State Government account, I am not in the slightest doubt that the timing of the action of EFCC is inauspicious, and therefore I feel compelled to intervene.
“Since assuming office, I have consistently maintained that anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies must be allowed to discharge their statutory responsibilities independently, professionally, without fear or favour, or political interference.
“I have therefore deliberately refrained from directing or interfering in the operational activities of the EFCC or any other investigative or prosecutorial agency because I firmly believe that strong democratic institutions, operating within the confines of the law, are indispensable to democratic good governance and the rule of law.
“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.”
Osun account
Recall that EFCC froze state government acciount domiciled with a first generation bank.
However, the development elicited angry reactions as Governor Ademola Adeleke, the Accord Party, African Democratic Congress, ADC, and legal practitioners faulted the move.
The governor also said he had instructed his Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice to challenge the action in court.
Defending its action, EFCC, insisted the action was aimed at stopping the alleged diversion of about N11 billion in public funds under investigation and was not connected with the state’s forthcoming governorship election.
The anti-graft agency said it stepped in after investigators uncovered what it described as an unusual wave of fund transfers from government accounts into several corporate entities, arguing that allowing the transactions to continue would have amounted to looking the other way while public money was allegedly being siphoned out.
Also, speaking on Arise Television on Thursday, EFCC spokesperson and Director of Public Affairs, Wilson Uwujaren, rejected claims by the Osun State Government and the Nigerian Bar Association that the commission required a court order before placing the restriction.
He insisted that its temporary restriction on an Osun State Government bank account was lawful and backed by provisions of the EFCC Act and the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act.
