BREAKING: Tinubu Directs EFCC to Vacate Order Freezing Osun State Government Accounts Ahead of Guber Poll

ABUJA — President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to immediately approach the court to vacate the order freezing the accounts of the Osun State Government and to discontinue related actions.

In a statement issued Thursday, the President said he felt “deeply embarrassed” not by the EFCC’s exercise of its mandate under a court order, but by the timing of the action with Osun State only days away from its gubernatorial election.

“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,” the statement read.

President Tinubu reaffirmed his position that anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies must operate independently, professionally, and without political interference. He noted that he has “deliberately refrained from directing or interfering in the operational activities of the EFCC or any other investigative agency.”

However, he described the timing as “inauspicious.”

“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,” the President declared.

Background to the freeze

The directive comes amid a protracted dispute over Osun’s local government funds. Governance in the state’s 30 LGAs has been stalled for about a year after the federal government withheld statutory allocations following conflicting court judgments.

The crisis stems from two LG elections. The All Progressives Congress won all 30 chairmanship and 332 councillorship seats in October 2022 under former Governor Gboyega Oyetola. After Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party assumed office, he dissolved those structures and conducted fresh polls in February 2025, which the PDP swept.

Conflicting rulings from State High Courts, the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal followed. On June 13, 2025, the Court of Appeal validated the sacking of the 2022 APC chairmen.

The Attorney-General of the Federation had on March 26, 2025 directed the Accountant General to withhold the funds. Osun subsequently sued the Federal Government at the Supreme Court, describing the seizure as “unconstitutional, unlawful, wrongful and ultra vires”.

A separate freezing order was also placed on 30 UBA accounts linked to the withheld LG allocations, with an Oyo State High Court recently extending the interim order.

The Osun State Government has repeatedly appealed to President Tinubu to intervene and order the release of the funds, arguing they should be paid to duly elected officials from the February 2025 polls.

Political implications

With the governorship election days away, the President’s directive appears aimed at preventing any perception that federal agencies are being used to influence the poll.

Tinubu stressed that while he respects the independence of the EFCC, the optics of a freeze at this time could undermine public confidence in the electoral process.

It remains unclear when the EFCC will file to vacate the order, or how quickly the court will hear the application. The Supreme Court suit on the withheld LG allocations is also still pending.