Revealed! EFCC Secured Court Order to Freeze Three Osun Govt Accounts, not One

Our Reporter 

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's intervention by directing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to unfreeze the account of Osun State government may have staved off what could have been a monumental and unprecedented political and constitutional disaster in the state, ten days to the guber election.

This is in the light of an emerging court document which revealed that the anti-graft agency had obtained a Federal High Court order to freeze three, and not one bank account belonging to the Osun State Government over allegations of diversion of public funds and money laundering, .

The order, granted on August 5, 2026, by Justice M. G. Umar of the Federal High Court, Abuja, authorised the anti-graft agency to freeze the accounts pending the conclusion of its investigation and prosecution.

The case, marked Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1750/2026 and titled In the Matter of an Application by the Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, was filed by the EFCC through its counsel, M. A. Babatunde.

According to the court document, the EFCC sought an ex parte order empowering its Executive Chairman, “or any officer authorised by him,” to direct the affected banks to freeze the accounts listed in the schedule to the application.

The commission told the court that the accounts were “currently being investigated in a case of Diversion of public funds and Money Laundering pending conclusion of investigation and prosecution.”

Justice Umar granted the application after counsel to the EFCC moved the motion ex parte.

The three accounts listed in the order are the Osun State Government Federal Allocation Account domiciled with First Bank Plc, Account No. 2017170947; Osun State Joint Allocation Account domiciled with Zenith Bank Plc, Account No. 1013374191; and another Osun State Joint Allocation Account with Zenith Bank Plc, Account No. 1014374909.

The application was supported by an affidavit sworn to by an EFCC investigator, Ikenna Chukwueze, and an exhibit marked “EFCC 1.”

The court directed that the freezing order should remain in force pending the conclusion of the investigation and prosecution.

The document, signed by the presiding judge, was issued under the seal of the court, with Muazu Kasimu signing as Registrar.

The development indicates that the scope of the EFCC's action was broader than previously reported, as the commission had secured an order affecting three allocation-related accounts rather than a single account.

The revelation comes amid controversy over the timing of the EFCC's action, which occurred days before the Osun State governorship election.

President Bola Tinubu on Thursday directed the EFCC to immediately return to court to seek the vacation of the freezing order and discontinue all related actions.

The President said he was “deeply embarrassed” by the timing of the action, arguing that although the commission acted pursuant to a court order and within its statutory powers, the development could create the perception of federal interference in the electoral process.

Before the President's intervention, the EFCC had defended the freezing of the accounts, saying it had been investigating the Osun State Government since March 2026 over the alleged fraudulent handling of Ecology Funds, Intervention Funds and Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) allocations totalling about ₦11 billion.

The commission said it sought the freezing order after allegedly discovering what it described as “precipitate and unwarranted” movement of public funds into several corporate entities beginning on August 2.

The EFCC maintained that the action was aimed at preventing the alleged diversion or looting of public funds and was not politically motivated.

The Osun State Government, however, subsequently instituted legal proceedings against the EFCC, its Executive Chairman and First Bank of Nigeria, challenging the freezing of the accounts.

The state government accused the commission of unlawfully freezing its accounts for political reasons ahead of the governorship election.

In its court filings, the government argued that the Federal Statutory Allocation Account was critical to the payment of salaries, pensions, contractors, healthcare, education, security and other essential government obligations.

It therefore contended that the EFCC's action was capable of crippling the state's finances at a politically sensitive period.

Among the reliefs sought by the Osun State Government are an order directing the unfreezing of the affected accounts and ₦2 billion in damages.

The latest court document, however, establishes that the EFCC's freezing order was obtained judicially and was specifically tied to an ongoing investigation into alleged diversion of public funds and money laundering.