By Gloria Drealomalicha
Presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, has disclosed that President Bola Tinubu personally informed Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, of his decision directing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to vacate the court order freezing the state’s bank accounts.
According to Onanuga, the President conveyed the directive during a telephone conversation with Adeleke on Thursday.
“President Tinubu, in a phone conversation with Governor Ademola Adeleke on Thursday, informed him about his directive to the EFCC to lift the court order on the Osun State Government account,” Onanuga stated.
The clarification came after Governor Adeleke accused the anti-graft agency of intimidating his administration ahead of the forthcoming governorship election.
Earlier on Thursday, Tinubu, in a personally signed statement, ordered the EFCC to immediately return to court to vacate the freezing order, saying although the commission acted on a valid court order, the timing of the action, just days before the governorship poll, could create the impression of federal interference in the electoral process.
The President said he was “deeply embarrassed” by the timing of the agency’s action, stressing that while anti-corruption agencies must be allowed to perform their statutory duties independently, every effort must be made to preserve public confidence in the credibility and fairness of Nigeria’s democratic process.
Tinubu consequently directed the EFCC to discontinue all actions relating to the freezing order, maintaining that the decision was taken in the overriding public interest and to ensure the forthcoming Osun governorship election is conducted without any perception of undue federal influence.
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