President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Thursday spoke with Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke by phone shortly after directing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to lift the restriction placed on the state government’s account.
The President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, disclosed this in a post on his X handle.
According to Onanuga, Tinubu informed Governor Adeleke during the conversation that he had instructed the EFCC to remove the restriction following the controversy surrounding the account freeze.
The development came after Tinubu expressed concern over the EFCC’s decision to obtain a court order freezing Osun State Government’s account.
In a statement issued earlier on Thursday, the President said he was “deeply embarrassed” by the action, not because the EFCC exercised its legal mandate, but because of the timing of the decision.
Tinubu said actions taken by federal institutions are often associated with his administration, even when he may not have been aware of them beforehand.
“It has come to my notice that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) obtained a court order on August 5, 2026, freezing the accounts of the Osun State Government. I must state that I feel deeply embarrassed not by the EFCC’s exercise of its mandate backed by a court order, but by the timing of the agency’s action,” he said.
The President noted that he had not yet received full details of the investigation that led the EFCC to seek the court order but described the timing as inappropriate, especially given the circumstances surrounding the matter.
He, however, reaffirmed his commitment to allowing government institutions to operate independently within the limits of their legal responsibilities.
The EFCC had earlier placed a post-no-debit restriction on Osun State’s statutory allocation account as part of an investigation into the alleged mismanagement of N11 billion ecological and intervention funds.
The move had drawn criticism from the Osun State Government and legal experts, who questioned the impact of freezing a state government account on public administration and service delivery.
