Falana defends EFCC’s freeze on Osun account, says action backed by law

Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has defended the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s (EFCC) decision to freeze an account belonging to the Osun State Government, insisting that the anti-graft agency acted within the powers granted to it by law.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, Falana said the legality of the EFCC’s authority to place restrictions on government accounts had long been settled by both the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.

According to him, the commission is empowered to impose a Post No Debit (PND) restriction on the account of any federal, state or local government for up to 72 hours, after which it must obtain a court order to sustain the restriction.

“As far as the law is concerned, the EFCC has not acted illegally,” Falana said, noting that the commission’s powers had been affirmed in several judicial pronouncements.

The senior lawyer cited a 2022 Court of Appeal judgment arising from a suit filed by the Benue State Government, which overturned an earlier Federal High Court ruling and confirmed the EFCC’s authority to temporarily freeze government accounts pending judicial approval.

He also referenced a 2024 Supreme Court judgment involving the Kogi State Government and other states, which upheld the powers of the EFCC, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) to investigate the accounts of government institutions at all levels.

“That remains the law in Nigeria today,” Falana maintained.

He argued that anyone dissatisfied with the existing legal framework should seek legislative amendments through the National Assembly rather than question the powers already conferred on anti-corruption agencies by the courts.

Addressing the controversy surrounding the EFCC’s restriction on Osun State’s statutory allocation account, Falana noted that the commission followed due process by obtaining a court order after initiating its investigation.

He explained that the Osun State Government had challenged the validity of the court order itself, rather than merely objecting to its timing.

The controversy stems from the EFCC’s investigation into the alleged movement of about ₦11 billion from the state’s Ecology Funds, Intervention Funds and Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) allocations.

The commission has maintained that the restriction was temporary, affected only one account and was carried out under the provisions of the EFCC Act and the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

President Bola Tinubu had subsequently directed the EFCC to approach the court to vacate the order and discontinue the restriction, citing concerns over its timing, coming days before the August 15 Osun governorship election.

Falana, however, cautioned against creating the impression that anti-corruption agencies should suspend investigations whenever elections are imminent.

He warned that shielding financial transactions from scrutiny simply because of approaching elections could weaken Nigeria’s anti-corruption efforts and undermine accountability in public finance.

“It is a dangerous impression to suggest that anti-graft agencies should look away whenever elections are around the corner,” he said.