By Sunday Ameh
The Osun State Government has dragged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before the Federal High Court in Abuja over the freezing of its statutory allocation account, seeking N2 billion in exemplary and aggravated damages.
In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1762/2026, filed on August 5, Governor Ademola Adeleke, the state’s Attorney-General and the Accountant-General are challenging the legality of the anti-graft agency’s directive to freeze the account.
Joined as defendants are the EFCC, its Executive Chairman and First Bank of Nigeria Limited.
The plaintiffs are asking the court to determine whether the EFCC has the legal authority to freeze or place a post-no-debit order on a state’s statutory allocation account without first obtaining a valid court order.
They argued that the commission’s directive to First Bank to freeze the account without prior judicial approval amounted to executive lawlessness, abuse of statutory powers and a violation of the constitutional principles of due process, the rule of law and the financial autonomy of a federating state.
According to the originating summons, the EFCC, through a letter dated August 5, 2026, directed First Bank to freeze the state’s statutory allocation account.
The Osun Government maintained that neither the EFCC nor the bank could lawfully restrict access to the account without a subsisting order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
Among the reliefs sought, the plaintiffs want the court to declare the freeze unlawful, unconstitutional, null and void, set aside the directive, restrain the EFCC and the bank from further interference with the account without judicial authorisation and award N2 billion in damages.
The lawsuit follows the EFCC’s announcement on Wednesday that it froze the account over alleged fraudulent handling of public funds, claiming it had been investigating the state government since March and had observed large transfers from the account into corporate entities.
The Osun Government, however, dismissed the allegations, accusing the commission of attempting to justify what it described as an illegal action.
The legal action comes amid heightened political tension ahead of the August 15 governorship election, with President Bola Tinubu on Thursday directing the EFCC to return to court and vacate the freeze order, describing its timing as inappropriate despite the agency’s statutory powers.
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