The African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Accord Party have criticised the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the freezing of the Osun State Government’s statutory allocation account, alleging that the action is aimed at influencing the August 15 governorship election.
The parties reacted a day after the Osun State Government accused the anti-graft agency of freezing its account with First Bank and threatened to challenge the move legally.
In a letter dated August 5 and addressed to First Bank, the EFCC instructed the bank to place a post-no-debit restriction on the Osun State Government’s statutory allocation account pending the conclusion of an ongoing investigation.
The commission said the directive was issued under Section 38 of the EFCC (Establishment) Act, 2004, and Section 24 of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
The development followed an earlier allegation by Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke that the EFCC was planning to freeze the state’s accounts ahead of the governorship election.
Reacting in a statement on Wednesday, Accord Party National Chairman Maxwell Mgbudem described the EFCC’s action as unconstitutional and politically driven.
“The national leadership of Accord condemns in strong terms the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arbitrary freezing of the Osun State Government accounts ahead of the 15th August governorship election in the state,” he said.
“This injustice, illegality, impunity and recklessness shall not stand. It’s part of the wider plot to use the police and federal agencies to capture Osun State for the opposition All Progressives Congress.”
Mgbudem said the party would seek legal redress over the development.
“This unconstitutional action of the EFCC shall be challenged in court as the temple of justice and last hope of all aggrieved citizens,” he said.
He alleged that the anti-graft agency acted without securing a court order because it knew such a request would not be approved.
“It is obvious that EFCC is acting a script along with the police in the state to paralyze and frustrate government activities to pave way for the opposition APC,” he said.
“Accord calls on President Bola Tinubu to allow a free, fair, credible and peaceful governorship election in Osun State… by ensuring that the security agencies, particularly the police, are neutral, impartial and professional in their conduct.”
The party also called for the release of some of its members and supporters it claimed were being held in Abuja, Osun and Nasarawa states.
In a separate statement, the ADC described the account freeze as “political terrorism” and accused the federal government of using state institutions against the Osun State Government.
ADC National Publicity Secretary Bolaji Abdullahi alleged that the move was intended to weaken the state administration ahead of the election.
“This is not an administrative decision or a legal dispute. It is political terrorism by the Bola Tinubu-led APC government carried out with the instruments of the Nigerian state in order to achieve the singular objective of undermining the state government ahead of the coming governorship election in the state,” he said.
Abdullahi further claimed that the restriction of funds was part of a wider attempt to intimidate the state government.
“The freezing of local government funds is only the latest chapter in what has become a systematic campaign to undermine constitutional government in the state,” he said.
The ADC urged the federal government to immediately restore statutory allocations meant for Osun’s local governments and stop what it described as the intimidation of residents of the state.