Idara Jerome

The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to approach the court and vacate the order freezing the Osun State Government’s account, saying the timing of the restriction was inappropriate, given the August 15 governorship election.

In a statement titled “President Tinubu Directs EFCC to Vacate the Court Order Freezing Osun Government Account” on Thursday, Tinubu said he was deeply embarrassed by the timing of the agency’s action, noting that any action taken by an institution, especially at the federal level, is often attributed to him, even when he has no prior knowledge of it.

“I must state that I feel deeply embarrassed, not by the EFCC’s exercise of its mandate or by a court order, but by the timing of the agency’s action.

“This is so because 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,” he said.

The directive followed the EFCC’s decision to impose a temporary 72-hour post-no-debit restriction on one of the state’s statutory allocation accounts over an investigation into the alleged diversion of about N11 billion.

The President said that, with just a few days to the governorship election, the EFCC should not take action that gives the impression that the Federal Government was interfering with the election.

“Osun State is only a few days away from its gubernatorial election. Therefore, 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 statement said.

Tinubu added that he had directed the EFCC to approach the court to vacate the order freezing the Osun account.

“Accordingly, I have directed the EFCC to immediately proceed to the court to vacate the order and discontinue whatever action it has instituted against the Osun State Government in this regard,” he added.