By Jerrywright Ukwu

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Accord Party have condemned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for freezing the Osun state government’s statutory allocation account, alleging that the move is aimed at influencing the August 15 governorship election.

The parties reacted a day after the Osun government accused the anti-graft agency of freezing its account with First Bank and threatened legal action.

In a letter dated August 5, and addressed to First Bank, the EFCC directed the bank to place a post-no-debit restriction on the Osun state government’s statutory allocation account pending the conclusion of an ongoing investigation.

The anti-graft agency said the directive was issued pursuant to Section 38 of the EFCC (Establishment) Act, 2004, and Section 24 of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

The development followed an earlier alarm raised by Ademola Adeleke, governor of Osun, who alleged that the EFCC planned to freeze the state’s accounts ahead of the governorship election.

Reacting in a statement on Wednesday, Maxwell Mgbudem, national chairman of Accord Party, described the action as unconstitutional and politically motivated.

“The national leadership of Accord condemns in strong terms the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arbitrary freezing of the Osun State Government accounts ahead of the 15th August governorship election in the state,” he said.

“This injustice, illegality, impunity and recklessness shall not stand. It’s part of the wider plot to use the police and federal agencies to capture Osun State for the opposition All Progressives Congress.”

Mgbudem said the party would challenge the EFCC’s action in court.

“This unconstitutional action of the EFCC shall be challenged in court as the temple of justice and last hope of all aggrieved citizens,” he said.

He alleged that the anti-graft agency acted without obtaining a court order because it knew such an application would not succeed.

“It is obvious that EFCC is acting a script along with the police in the state to paralyse and frustrate government activities to pave way for the opposition APC,” he said.

“Accord calls on President Bola Tinubu to allow a free, fair, credible and peaceful governorship election in Osun State… by ensuring that the security agencies, particularly the police, are neutral, impartial and professional in their conduct.”

The party also demanded the release of members and supporters it claimed were being detained in Abuja, Osun and Nasarawa states.

In a separate statement, the ADC described the freezing of the account as “political terrorism” and accused the federal government of weaponising state institutions against the Osun government.

Bolaji Abdullahi, national publicity secretary of the party, said the action was designed to undermine the state government ahead of the election.

“This is not an administrative decision or a legal dispute. It is political terrorism by the Bola Tinubu-led APC government carried out with the instruments of the Nigerian state in order to achieve the singular objective of undermining the state government ahead of the coming governorship election in the state,” he said.

Abdullahi alleged that the withholding of funds formed part of a broader campaign of intimidation against the Osun government.

“The freezing of local government funds is only the latest chapter in what has become a systematic campaign to undermine constitutional government in the state,” he said.

The ADC called for the immediate restoration of the statutory allocations due to Osun’s local governments and urged the federal government to end what it described as intimidation of the state’s residents.

Source: TheCable