Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke has filed a N2 billion lawsuit against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the alleged unlawful freezing of the state’s Federal Statutory Allocation Account.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1762/2026 and filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday, lists the state Attorney General and Accountant General as co-plaintiffs. The EFCC, its chairman and First Bank Nigeria Limited are named as defendants.
Adeleke’s legal team, led by Prof. M. T. Adekilekun, SAN, is asking the court to determine whether the EFCC has the power to freeze, restrict or place a “post no debit” order on the Osun State Statutory Account (No. 2017170947) held at First Bank without a valid court order. The plaintiffs cite Sections 1, 6, 36, 44 and 162 of the 1999 Constitution, Section 34 of the EFCC Establishment Act 2004, and Section 7(6) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022.
They contend that the EFCC’s directive, contained in a letter dated 5 August 2026 and signed by ACE I Adenike S. Babalola on behalf of the Director of Investigation, amounts to executive lawlessness, an abuse of statutory powers and a threat to the financial autonomy of the state.
The governor is seeking a declaration that the freeze is unlawful, unconstitutional and null and void. He also wants the court to order First Bank to immediately lift all restrictions on the account, grant perpetual injunctions restraining the EFCC and the bank from similar actions without due process, and award N2 billion in exemplary and aggravated damages for interference with public funds, plus costs of the suit.
No hearing date has been fixed. The action comes shortly after President Bola Tinubu directed the EFCC to approach the court to unfreeze the account.
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