•Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State Adeleke
Osun State governor, Ademola Adeleke, has accused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of acting illegally after the anti-graft agency directed FirstBank to place the state’s statutory allocation account under a Post-No-Debit (PND) restriction.
A letter from the EFCC dated August 5, 2026, addressed to the Managing Director of a new generation bank, Abuja, and titled “RE: Investigation Activities”, directed the bank to place the Osun State Government Statutory Allocation Account, with account number 2017170947, under a PND restriction.
The letter, with reference number CR:3000/EFCC/ABJ/HQ/PFS/TA/OSUN/VOL.17/166, was signed by the Director of Investigation, Adenike Babalola, reports The Nation.
It read in part: “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.”
Reacting to the development, Adeleke, who spoke with journalists at the Government House, Oke-Fia, Osogbo, today, described the EFCC’s action as an abuse of due process.
The governor alleged that the commission obtained no court order before directing the bank to restrict the account.
He disclosed that he had directed the state’s Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice to challenge the EFCC’s action before the Federal High Court in Osogbo.
Adeleke described the restriction as the latest in what he characterised as sustained intimidation of his administration and members of the Accord Party ahead of the August 15 governorship election.
“We received a letter from our banker this morning forwarding a letter from the EFCC instructing the bank to freeze Osun State government account,” the governor said.
“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 not accept a situation where federal agencies trample on the constitutional rights of sub-national governments.”
The governor challenged the EFCC chairman to publicly explain the basis for freezing the account and provide evidence to justify the action.
“All I ask is for the EFCC Chairman to explain to the good people of Osun State and to Nigerians in general why he froze Osun State Government account and show proof to support whatever reason he presents,” he said.
The governor also linked the development to what he described as months of political persecution against his administration.
He maintained that despite the development, his administration would continue with its re-election campaign.
Earlier, the state government disbursed N20,000 palliatives to civil servants across the state, a development confirmed by the governor’s spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed.
He stated that the latest disbursement forms part of the administration’s holistic approach to continue improving the welfare of public servants, particularly in mitigating the effects of economic pressures on their livelihoods.
Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress Campaign Committee, through its member, Comrade Kehinde Ayantunji, reacting to the development, said, “Governor Ademola is rewriting the history of electoral fraud in Nigeria because what has happened is unprecedented in our electoral history, for a state government not only to have the guts to buy votes but to use the government fund to buy votes. That is the highest level of economic sabotage.
“Although the EFFC has not said anything, the referenced account is the same account they are using to buy votes; if that is the offence, I commend the anti-graft agency.
“The state government held a meeting 2 days ago, especially with Civil Servants, pensioners, and some other groups, and they promised to give them money. Surprisingly, they have been transferring the money since yesterday.”
He commended the EFCC for preventing further ‘looting’ of the state treasury, urging the anti-graft to move a step further by arresting those involved in the criminal act, especially the vote buyers and sellers.
According to him, “Ridiculously, the state government is calling vote buying a palliative, to show they don’t have integrity. Even when the Federal Government rolled out palliative, they refused to share it to the public. The state government is only making noise to gain sympathy; they are fraudsters. It would have been an institutional compromise if the anti-graft agent had ignored such electoral fraud.”
