President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to immediately proceed to court to vacate the order freezing the accounts of the Osun State Government.
In a statement issued on Thursday, August 6, 2026, the President said he felt compelled to intervene because the timing of the EFCC’s action was “inauspicious” coming just days to the Osun State governorship election scheduled for August 16.
The EFCC had on August 5 obtained a court order freezing the Osun State Government accounts.
President Tinubu said while he was not embarrassed by the EFCC exercising its statutory mandate backed by a court order, he was concerned that actions taken by federal institutions are often credited to the Presidency.
“I have consistently maintained that anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies must be allowed to discharge their statutory responsibilities independently, professionally, without fear or favour, or political interference,” he stated.
The President added that he has deliberately refrained from directing or interfering in the operational activities of the EFCC because strong democratic institutions operating within the law are indispensable to good governance.
However, he noted that nothing ought to be done to give the impression that any federal agency is being used to interfere with the election.
“Based on the foregoing premise, I am duty-bound to issue a directive on this issue in consonance with the overriding public interest in preserving public confidence and the integrity, credibility, and fairness of our democratic process,” he said.
Accordingly, President Tinubu 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.”