By Gideon Maxwell
August 6, 2026
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Thursday directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to immediately vacate the court order freezing the bank accounts of the Osun State Government, shortly after former presidential aide Laolu Akande publicly questioned the timing of the action and described it as “extremely suspicious.”
Akande, who is also the host of Inside Sources with Laolu Akande on Channels Television, made the remarks during an interview on Sunrise Daily, saying the anti graft agency had failed to convince Nigerians that it had a compelling justification for freezing the state’s statutory accounts just days before the Osun State governorship election.
“The timing of the freezing of the Osun State statutory accounts is very, very suspicious. It is extremely suspicious,” Akande said.
While acknowledging that the EFCC had confirmed placing a no debit order on the accounts, he argued that the commission had not presented sufficient information to justify such a far reaching action.
“So far, the EFCC has not succeeded in persuading us that it truly has a legitimate and compelling reason, as stated in its own statement, for taking this action at this particular time,” he said.
Akande, who noted that he knew the EFCC Chairman personally and regarded him as “a man of distinction,” nevertheless said the development reflected poorly on the commission’s leadership.
“You have not shown us enough,” he said.
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He further questioned why the anti corruption agency singled out Osun State, arguing that allegations of suspicious movements of public funds were not unique to the state.
“If the EFCC says there were suspicious movements of funds, excuse me, how many places in this country are there where suspicious movements of public funds occur?
“Are you going to freeze all those accounts?
“Or, put differently, how many accounts have you frozen because you found suspicious movements of funds?
“The information the EFCC has provided is grossly insufficient to justify freezing the accounts of a state government at a time when an election is just around the corner.”
Hours later, President Tinubu announced his intervention, saying he was “deeply embarrassed” by the timing of the EFCC’s action, although not by the commission’s statutory powers.
“I must state that I feel 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,” the President said in a personally signed statement issued from the State House.
Tinubu reiterated his commitment to the independence of anti corruption and law enforcement agencies, saying he had consistently refrained from interfering in their operations.
However, he maintained that the timing of the EFCC’s action was inappropriate, particularly as Osun State is only days away from its governorship election.
“The timing of the action of EFCC is inauspicious, and therefore I feel compelled to intervene,” he said.
“Osun State is only a few days away from its gubernatorial election. Therefore, nothing ought to be done to give an impression that the EFCC or indeed any other agency of the Federal Government is being used to interfere with the election.”
The President consequently directed the EFCC to immediately return to court to vacate the freezing order and discontinue the action instituted against the Osun State Government.
The development marked a dramatic turn in the controversy, with the President’s directive coming only hours after Akande publicly challenged the timing and justification of the EFCC’s action, concerns that were later echoed in Tinubu’s own statement.
