President Bola Tinubu has ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to lift the freeze order restricting an account of the Osun State Government.
Mr Tinubu gave the directive in a statement he personally signed on Thursday, describing the timing of the EFCC’s action, coming about 10 days to the upcoming Osun State governorship election, as deeply embarrassing.
The directive came amid growing criticisms of the anti-corruption agency’s action, which has increasingly drawn condemnation as a politically motivated step.
EFCC ordered the freezing of the state government’s account on Wednesday, days before the 15 August governorship election in which Governor Ademola Adeleke is running on the platform of the Accord Party against the president’s party, the All Progressives Congress.
“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,” Mr Tinubu wrote.
