Follow Us on Google
Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke has taken the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to court, demanding N2 billion in damages over the freezing of the state’s Federal Statutory Allocation Account, which he says was carried out without lawful authority.
The suit, filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja and marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1762/2026, lists the Osun State Attorney-General and Accountant-General as co-plaintiffs alongside the governor. A legal team led by Prof. M. T. Adekilekun, SAN, named the EFCC, its chairman and First Bank Nigeria Limited as defendants.
At the heart of the case is a letter dated August 5, 2026, in which the EFCC — through an official identified as ACE I Adenike S. Babalola, writing for the Director of Investigation — directed First Bank to place restrictions on the state’s statutory account, number 2017170947. The plaintiffs argue that this was done without any court order authorising the freeze, and want the Federal High Court to rule on whether the EFCC had the power to act in that manner.
Their core legal arguments rest on the 1999 Constitution (particularly the sections on federalism, fair hearing, property rights and revenue allocation), the EFCC Establishment Act of 2004, and the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act of 2022. They contend that, read together, these laws require the EFCC to obtain a specific court order before freezing a state government account — something they say did not happen in this case.
Other News
On that basis, they describe the freeze as an unlawful use of self-help, an abuse of statutory power and a threat to Osun State’s constitutional and financial autonomy. They also argue that First Bank breached its duty of care to the state by acting solely on the EFCC’s directive.
Beyond a declaration that the freeze was unlawful and void, the plaintiffs are asking the court to:
- Set aside and nullify the EFCC’s directive.
- Order First Bank to immediately restore the state’s full access to the account.
- Issue a permanent injunction barring the EFCC from freezing state accounts without due process.
- Bar First Bank from acting on similar directives that bypass a court order.
- Award N2 billion in exemplary and aggravated damages, plus litigation costs.
No hearing date has yet been set. The suit comes shortly after President Bola Tinubu directed the EFCC to approach the court itself to secure an unfreezing of the account — a move that suggests some tension within the Federal Government’s own handling of the matter.
