President Bola Tinubu has directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to immediately take steps to lift the freezing order placed on an account belonging to the Osun State Government.
Tinubu gave the directive in a statement on Thursday, saying he was concerned about the timing of the EFCC’s action, which came about 10 days before the Aug. 15 governorship election in the state.
The President said he was not embarrassed by the EFCC’s exercise of its mandate but by the timing, noting that actions by federal institutions were often attributed to him as President, even when he had no prior knowledge of them.
He said nothing should be done to create the impression that the EFCC or any other federal agency was being used to influence the outcome of the election. Tinubu therefore directed the commission to return to court to vacate the order and discontinue the action.
The EFCC had restricted the account over alleged suspicious movement of funds linked to about N11 billion in ecology funds, intervention funds and federal allocations. The commission said it had been investigating the Osun State Government since March, while the state government had described the action as politically motivated.
