President Bola Tinubu has directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC to immediately vacate the court order that froze the Osun State government account.
The anti-graft agency on Wednesday froze the government’s account domicile in First Bank ten days to the state’s governorship election.
The move, however, triggered backlash from concerned Nigerians especially opposition party members, who alleged that government institutions are being used to stop Governor Ademola Adeleke’s re-election bid.
Reversing the agency’s decision, President Tinubu in a statement titled ‘President Tinubu Directs EFCC To Vacate The Court Order Freezing Osun Government Account’, said he felt “deeply embarrassed not by the EFCC’s exercise of its mandate backed by a court order, but by the timing of the agency’s action”.
In the statement shared by his spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu explained that he felt embarrassed “because every action taken by an institution of state, especially at the federal level, is always credited to him as the President, even when he may not have had any prior knowledge of the action.
“Since assuming office, 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.
“I have therefore deliberately refrained from directing or interfering in the operational activities of the EFCC or any other investigative or prosecutorial agency because I firmly believe that strong democratic institutions, operating within the confines of the law, are indispensable to democratic good governance and the rule of law.
As President, I am committed to allowing institutions of State to function and take any action they consider necessary in the interest of proper governance without the need for any prior approval. Indeed, that is why institutions are set up by law with clearly defined powers.
“Accordingly, I have 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,” Tinubu said in the statement.
