EFCC Considering Freezing Osun Government Accounts Ahead Of Election, Adeleke Alleges

Osun State governor Ademola Adeleke has alleged that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is planning to freeze all bank accounts belonging to the state government ahead of the governorship election scheduled for August 15.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, said the governor raised the alarm on Tuesday at the Government House in Osogbo.

Alimi also alleged that the anti-graft agency intends to extend the planned freeze to the bank accounts of top government officials.

According to the statement, Adeleke described the alleged move as “the height of lawlessness,” arguing that “the plot to freeze the state government accounts is meant to paralyse government activities ahead of the governorship election.”

“The governor affirmed that there is no legal basis or justification for any move to freeze the state government accounts, declaring that the anti-graft agency has no legal powers to freeze the account of a state government,” the statement added.

When contacted for a response, EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale said he would revert but had not done so as of the time this report was filed.

Adeleke is seeking re-election on the platform of the Accord Party, while the All Progressives Congress (APC) is aiming to reclaim Osun State after four years in opposition.

The allegation comes amid heightened political tension in the state, where clashes have recently been reported between supporters of the rival parties ahead of the August 15 governorship poll.

Speaking at a campaign rally in Olorunda Local Government Area on Monday, Adeleke appealed to President Bola Tinubu to intervene in the escalating pre-election violence, warning against a repeat of the political crisis that engulfed the South-West in 1983.

The governor argued that the recent endorsement of President Tinubu’s re-election bid by the Accord Party in Osun should earn the state some consideration, stressing that the president’s intervention was needed to stop the “loss of innocent lives” and ensure a free and fair election.