The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has said the temporary restriction placed on an Osun State Government bank account will be lifted once investigators are satisfied that transactions on the account are no longer suspicious.
This was just as the anti-graft agency also disclosed that, under the law, the restriction can only remain in force for 72 hours before it must obtain a court order if it intends to extend the action.
Speaking on Arise TV morning programme on Thursday, the EFCC Director of Public Affairs, Wilson Uwujaren, explained that the restriction was a preventive measure aimed at preserving funds in the account while it investigates alleged suspicious financial transactions linked to the Osun State Government.
According to the commission, investigators observed unusual movements of funds from the account to several entities within the past week, prompting the decision to place the account under a “Post No Debit” restriction.
“As we indicated in the statement released by the commission, we took that step to preserve the account of the Osun State government. We observed in the past one week that activities on that account look suspicious,” Uwujaren said.
He stressed that the action was not a blanket freeze on all Osun State Government accounts but a targeted restriction on a single account.
“It does not mean that all the accounts of Osun State have been frozen. It is just a targeted restriction on one account of the Osun State Government. The essence is just to preserve that account because we observed suspicious activities in terms of transfer of funds to a number of entities within one week,” the anti-graft agency’s spokesman added.
The agency argued that it had a legal responsibility to prevent the movement of funds while investigations were ongoing, warning that failure to act could have undermined its mandate.
“If we don’t take that step and, for instance, funds are transferred from the account of the Osun State Government, the Nigerian public will ask where the EFCC was when those funds were being moved. So we have to take preventive action,” he stated.
The EFCC further maintained that the restriction would not cripple governance in the state, insisting that the government still had access to other bank accounts for its operations.
“It does not stop the Osun State Government from running the affairs of the state because they have access to other funds in other accounts. What we have done is not a blanket freezing of the accounts; it is just a targeted freezing.”
Giving conditions for lifting the restriction, Uwujaren said, “Once we are satisfied that activities on that account are no longer suspicious, it will be lifted.”
The anti-graft agency also defended its powers to impose temporary restrictions on bank accounts, citing Section 34 of the EFCC Act and Section 7(6) of the Money Laundering (Prevention) Act.
“I can assure you that we have the power to place temporary restrictions on an account. The restriction order can last within 72 hours before we can come with a court order if we need to obtain one,” he said.
The EFCC had on Wednesday placed an Osun State Government account domiciled with First Bank under “Post No Debit” status, barely 10 days before the state’s governorship election scheduled for August 15.
The affected account, reportedly used for the payment of workers’ salaries, was restricted as part of an investigation into the alleged diversion of N11 billion in public funds.
According to the commission, the probe, which began in March 2026, centres on the alleged fraudulent management of Ecology Funds, Intervention Funds and allocations from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).
The EFCC said its investigation has already led to the questioning of several state officials, including the Accountant General, after investigators detected what it described as suspicious transfers of large sums of money from the state’s accounts to various corporate entities beginning August 2, 2026.