According to him, the controversy surrounding the account freeze should not obscure the legal question of whether the anti-graft agency possessed the statutory authority to act.
Human rights lawyer and activist, Deji Adeyanju, has faulted President Bola Tinubu's directive ordering the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to vacate the court-backed freezing of Osun State Government accounts, describing the President's intervention as unconstitutional and a dangerous assault on the independence of public institutions.
Speaking on the Mic On podcast, anchored and hosted by Seun Okinbaloye, Adeyanju argued that while the EFCC acted within the powers granted to it by law in obtaining an ex parte court order to freeze the accounts, the timing of the action, coming days before the Osun State governorship election, was "extremely suspicious" and inevitably created the impression of political interference.
According to him, the controversy surrounding the account freeze should not obscure the legal question of whether the anti-graft agency possessed the statutory authority to act.
"EFCC has the powers to freeze the accounts of the Federal Government, state governments and local governments under its Establishment Act and the Money Laundering Act," he said.
