By Luminous Jannamike
ABUJA — The African Democratic Congress, ADC, on Thursday said President Bola Tinubu’s directive ordering the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to reverse the freezing of the Osun State Government’s accounts had undermined claims that the anti-graft agency operates independently of the Presidency.
Rather than settling the controversy over the account freeze, the President’s intervention has shifted attention to two broader questions, the opposition party said: whether the EFCC truly acts independently and whether the court order cited by the President ever existed.
The position was contained in a statement by the ADC National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, who welcomed the reversal but said the President’s explanation had raised ‘far more troubling questions than it answers’ as he questioned the alleged court order, the EFCC’s actions and the Presidency’s role in the matter.
“If the President possesses the authority to direct the EFCC to withdraw from court proceedings because the political consequences may affect an election, then it follows that he possesses the authority to direct the Commission in other operational matters as well.
