Ademola Adeleke, governor of Osun, has alleged that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is working to freeze all bank accounts belonging to the state government ahead of the governorship election slated for August 15.
In a statement on Wednesday, Kolapo Alimi, commissioner for information and public enlightenment, said the governor raised the alarm on Tuesday at the government house in Osogbo.
Alimi alleged that the anti-graft agency also plans to extend the freeze to the accounts of top government functionaries.
According to the statement, the governor said such a move, if true, would amount to “the height of lawlessness”, noting that “the plot to freeze the state government accounts is meant to paralyse government activities ahead of the governorship election”.
“The governor affirmed that there is no legal basis or justification for any move to freeze the state government accounts, declaring that the anti-graft agency has no legal powers to freeze the account of a state government,” the statement added.
When contacted for a reaction, Dele Oyewale, EFCC spokesperson, promised to revert. He was yet to do so as of the time of filing this report.
Adeleke is seeking re-election on the Accord party platform, with the All Progressives Congress (APC) battling to reclaim the state after four years in opposition.
In recent weeks, Osun has witnessed renewed political violence, with members of both camps engaged in clashes as they seek to consolidate early gains ahead of the poll.
Speaking on Monday at a campaign rally in Olorunda LGA, Adeleke asked President Bola Tinubu to intervene in the pre-election violence rocking the state, warning against a repeat of the 1983 political crisis in the south-west.
He argued that the recent endorsement of Tinubu’s re-election bid by Accord in Osun should earn the state some reprieve from the president.
According to the governor, the president’s intervention is needed to halt the “loss of innocent lives” in the state, noting that “all we are asking for is simply a free and fair election”.
