Account Freeze: Adeleke Directs Osun Attorney-General to Withdraw Suit Against EFCC

 

Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has directed the state’s Attorney-General to withdraw the suit filed against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the freezing of the state government’s bank account.

Adeleke disclosed this in an interview with Channels Television, shortly after he was declared winner of the August 15 governorship election.

The Osun State Government had filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja challenging the EFCC’s decision to freeze its statutory allocation account.

The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1762/2026 and filed on August 5, sought to nullify the EFCC’s directive and demanded N2 billion in exemplary damages against the commission.

The EFCC had said the account was frozen as part of an investigation into alleged fraudulent handling of funds by the state government.

President Bola Tinubu subsequently directed the EFCC to lift the freeze order, saying he was embarrassed by the development because actions by federal institutions were often attributed to the presidency even when he had no prior knowledge of them.

Following the President’s intervention, Adeleke said he had decided to withdraw the case.

“I’m putting them behind. What else do I want? I have instructed my attorney general to drop it. Mr President has done well. He called me. What more do I want?” Adeleke said.

On reports that some of his aides and government officials had been invited for questioning by the EFCC, the governor said he had directed his lawyers to assist them.

“Well, we have been talking. I have been calling all my lawyers to go there,” he said.

Adeleke alleged that the EFCC invitations were politically motivated but acknowledged that some officials who honoured the invitations were released after questioning.

The governor also said he did not believe President Tinubu was aware of some of the actions attributed to federal agencies.

“Most of these things, the president doesn’t know. The president has a lot of foreign work and jobs to do,” he said.

Adeleke further alleged that former Osun State Governor and Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola, was behind the EFCC action because of his relationship with the President.

“All these things is Oyetola because he is the cousin to the president. He is dropping the president’s name,” Adeleke alleged.

“I know that the president didn’t know about the EFCC one. That is why he had to call me and stop it.”