Post by Ibadan Watch (@Ibadanwatch)

Osun Govt Alleges Political Motive Behind EFCC’s Freezing of State Accounts.

The Osun State Government has denied allegations that about ₦11 billion was diverted from the state treasury, insisting that no public funds were looted and accusing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of freezing its bank accounts for political reasons.

The government maintained that the action was unrelated to corruption and was intended to frustrate its welfare programmes ahead of the August 15 governorship election.

In a statement issued by the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, through his official X account, the state government alleged that the accounts were frozen on the instruction of former Governor Gboyega Oyetola. According to the statement, the objective was to prevent the payment of palliatives already approved for workers across the state.

The government's response followed the EFCC's explanation that it froze the accounts to prevent the alleged diversion of public funds before the election. Rejecting the allegation, the Adeleke administration described the claims of missing funds as false, insisting they were introduced only to justify what it called an unlawful decision by the anti-graft agency.

According to the state government, the alleged plan to stop the palliative payments ultimately failed because the approved funds had already been disbursed to workers. It explained that the financial support formed part of measures introduced to cushion the effects of the rising cost of living on civil servants and other public employees.

The administration further accused the EFCC of acting in the interest of the All Progressives Congress (APC), alleging that its investigation into the state's finances was politically motivated rather than driven by genuine anti-corruption concerns. It insisted that available state resources had been committed to infrastructure projects, workers' welfare and other development programmes, leaving no funds available for diversion.

The government also disclosed that the EFCC had been investigating several senior officials since March 2026 but claimed that the exercise had not produced any evidence linking them to corruption.

It alleged that top officials had been subjected to repeated invitations and what it described as weekly harassment aimed at disrupting governance and slowing the implementation of public programmes.

The Osun State Government argued that if the EFCC possessed credible evidence of wrongdoing, it should have followed established legal procedures by prosecuting those responsible instead of freezing government accounts.

Describing the commission's public explanation as an afterthought, the administration insisted that the allegations were designed to justify an action it believes cannot withstand legal scrutiny or public examination.

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