Osun Govt dismisses EFCC allegations, says account freeze politically motivated
The Osun State Government has rejected the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s (EFCC) claim that its bank accounts were frozen over the alleged “diversion of N11 billion ecological and intervention funds”.
The EFCC had announced on Wednesday that it froze the state’s accounts over the alleged fraudulent handling of the funds.
The anti-graft agency said it had been investigating the Osun government since March, adding that some officials, including the state accountant-general, had been questioned. It also claimed investigators detected large transfers from the accounts to several corporate entities from August 2.
Responding in a statement on Thursday, Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment Kolapo Alimi dismissed the EFCC’s explanation, describing it as an attempt to justify what he called an unlawful action with unsubstantiated allegations.
Alimi alleged that “the real reason the commission froze the state account on the order of Gboyega Oyetola was to stop the payment of palliatives which the state government promised the workers some months ago”.
He, however, said the government had already paid the palliatives to workers across the state following negotiations aimed at easing the impact of the current economic hardship.
The commissioner further accused the EFCC of carrying out “a hatchet job for Osun APC” through the freezing of the state’s accounts.
“We don’t loot public funds in Osun state; we deliver on public goods and services,” he said.
“There is no fund to loot in Osun state as the little resources we have are expended on the many mega projects, workers welfare and sectoral developments for the benefit of the masses. We reject attempts to tarnish the image of our hardworking governor.”
Alimi also alleged that the EFCC had been conducting a “witch-hunting investigation since March, 2026, without any indicting evidence against top officials” of the state government.
He claimed that government officials had been subjected to repeated harassment in what he described as an effort to distract the administration from governance.
According to the commissioner, if the commission genuinely had evidence of wrongdoing, it should follow due legal process instead of imposing what he described as a politically motivated and illegal restriction on the state’s accounts.
“It is sad that a commission will lie to destroy the image of a state to cover up an illegal action that has backfired,” he said.
He added that “the alibi from the commission is an afterthought and it cannot stand the test of truth in reality and court of public opinion”.
The dispute comes amid heightened political tension ahead of the August 15 governorship election in Osun State.
Governor Ademola Adeleke is seeking a second term on the platform of the Accord Party.
In recent weeks, political exchanges have intensified between supporters of the governor and the All Progressives Congress (APC), which is seeking to regain control of the state after four years in opposition.
The governor’s camp has accused the APC of using federal agencies, including the police and the EFCC, to intimidate Accord Party supporters ahead of the election.
The APC, however, has dismissed the claims, insisting that the governor is merely anxious about what it described as his impending defeat at the polls.