President Bola Tinubu has directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to immediately return to court to vacate an order freezing the bank accounts of the Osun State Government, saying the action could undermine public confidence in the integrity of the state’s governorship election.
In a statement he personally signed Thursday, Tinubu said he became aware that the EFCC obtained the court order on August 5. While affirming the commission’s statutory independence, he described the timing of the move as unfortunate. “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,” the president said, noting that actions taken by federal institutions are often attributed to him, whether or not he had prior knowledge of them.
The president reiterated that he has deliberately refrained from interfering in the operations of the EFCC and other investigative agencies since assuming office, insisting they must be allowed to perform their duties independently, professionally and without political interference. However, he said he felt compelled to intervene because, although he had not been fully briefed on the facts behind the court application, “the timing of the action of EFCC is inauspicious.”
Tinubu said with Osun only days away from its governorship election, no action by any federal institution should create the impression that the government is attempting to influence the electoral process. “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,” he said.
He therefore directed the anti-graft agency to immediately apply to the court to vacate the order freezing the state’s accounts and discontinue all related proceedings against the Osun State Government. The directive, he said, was issued in the overriding public interest to preserve public confidence as well as “the integrity, credibility and fairness of our democratic process.”
