The Osun State Government has challenged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission‘s restriction of its statutory allocation account, with state counsel Prof. Mubarak Adekilekun (SAN) saying no court order was served on the state government or First Bank before the freeze took effect.
Adekilekun disclosed this on Friday while speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today program, as controversy over the EFCC’s action continued to generate legal debate across the country ahead of the August 15 Osun governorship election.
He stated that Nigerian law required a court order to be issued and formally served, particularly on the bank, before any such restriction could be lawfully imposed on a government account holding federal statutory allocations.
He told the program that the EFCC’s letter to First Bank was subsequently forwarded to the Osun State Government and that the bank confirmed no court order was attached to the correspondence at the time of transmission.
“The letter was forwarded to Osun State Government, where First Bank confirmed that no court order was attached to it,” Adekilekun stated, describing the process as procedurally defective under the applicable legal framework.
The senior advocate acknowledged that the EFCC held statutory powers to act on suspected financial offenses but argued those powers could not be read in isolation from the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, specifically Section 7 of that legislation.
He told the program that Section 7 of the Money Laundering Act required a court order to be served on the relevant party before any account restriction of this nature could validly take effect against a state government institution.
“You can’t just go in and say, ‘Er, we are using our power vested in the Chairman of EFCC to now put a PND on the state government’s statutory account,'” Adekilekun said, characterizing the commission’s action as an overreach of its administrative authority.
When asked directly whether the EFCC could restrict an account for up to 72 hours before obtaining a court order, he maintained his position, saying the law stipulated that a court order must be secured and served without exception.
“See, in this regard, EFCC must get a court order. The laws are there. If you read the provision I’m talking about, Section 7 of the Money Laundering Act, it stipulates that a court order must be served. It is there,” he insisted.
Adekilekun also dismissed allegations of money laundering against the state, telling the program that the account in question had only ever received allocations drawn from the Federation Account, describing those funds as existing within the pure federal domain.
“You can’t do an act of this magnitude and just say you are transmitting a letter to put a PND on a state government account. The only money that is being transferred to that account is from the Federation Account,” he said.
His position came hours after human rights lawyer and senior advocate of Nigeria Femi Falana said the EFCC had not acted illegally, citing a 2022 Court of Appeal judgment involving Benue State that affirmed the commission’s power to place a post-no-debit restriction for not more than 72 hours before obtaining a court order.
Falana said in that instance the EFCC proceeded to court, and the Federal High Court intervened based on information the commission provided, suggesting the statutory procedure had been followed in the current Osun matter.
President Bola Tinubu subsequently directed the EFCC to approach the court to vacate the order and discontinue the action, citing the timing of the restriction ahead of the August 15 Osun governorship election as a factor in his decision.
Asked whether the Osun State Government would pursue legal action despite the president’s intervention, Adekilekun said the decision rested with his client, adding that he personally believed the matter warranted judicial determination through the court process.
“Well, it depends on what my client thinks, which is the Osun State Government. If they give us the go-ahead, but I think and I believe that it should be tried,” he told the program, leaving the state government’s next legal step unresolved on the Osun account freeze.
