By Matilda Ikediobi
ABUJA — The Chairman of the League of Patriotic Lawyers, Abubakar Yesufu, has said the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, acted within its statutory powers when it froze the Osun State Ecological Fund account over concerns about the possible diversion of more than N11 billion in public funds.
Yesufu stated this in a statement issued on Saturday, arguing that the EFCC, as an agency responsible for investigating financial crimes and protecting public funds, had a duty to take preventive measures where there were reasonable grounds to suspect that government funds could be dissipated.
According to him, once a Post No Debit, PND, order issued by the EFCC expires after 72 hours, the commission is required to obtain an order from a court of competent jurisdiction to extend the restriction, unless the initial order has been vacated.
He cited Section 34 of the EFCC Act and Section 7 of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act as the legal basis for the commission’s action.
