Osun Account Freeze: No Court Order Served on State, First Bank — Counsel
Counsel to the Osun State Government, Prof. Mubarak Adekilekun, SAN, has said no court order was served on the state government or First Bank alongside the directive restricting access to the state’s statutory allocation account.
Adekilekun stated this on Friday while appearing on Channels Television’s Politics Today, amid controversy over the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s restriction of the account.
He argued that the law required a court order to be obtained and served, particularly on the bank, before the restriction could be imposed.
According to him, the EFCC’s letter to First Bank was subsequently forwarded to the Osun State Government, but the bank confirmed that no court order was attached.
“You will recall that after the letter was written to First Bank in Osun, which in turn transmitted the letter to the state government, the requirement of the law in this regard is that a court order must be issued and served on, especially, First Bank.
“The letter was forwarded to Osun State Government, where First Bank confirmed that no court order was attached to it,” Adekilekun said.
The Senior Advocate acknowledged that the EFCC had legal powers to act on suspected financial offences but argued that those powers must be exercised in line with the provisions of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act.
He said the law required a court order to be served before a Post No Debit restriction could be placed on the state government’s statutory account.
“They were trying to justify their action that if they do not do it, the account could be compromised. Yes, we agree there are some provisions of the law that say EFCC can, but if you interpret this in conjunction with Section 7 of the MLA, it says that there must be a court order served on that party,” he said.
Adekilekun also rejected the argument that the EFCC could restrict the account for up to 72 hours before obtaining a court order, insisting that a court order was required.
“See, in this regard, EFCC must get a court order. The laws are there.
“If you read the provision I’m talking about, Section 7 of the Money Laundering Act, it stipulates that court order must be served. It is there,” he insisted.
Dismissing allegations of money laundering, the counsel said the account was used only to receive allocations from the Federation Account.
“You can’t do an act of this magnitude and just say you are transmitting a letter to put a PND on a state government account. The only money that is being transferred to that account is from the Federation Account, pure federal domain,” he said.
Adekilekun’s position came hours after human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, argued that the EFCC had not acted illegally in restricting the account.
Falana said the commission had the legal authority to freeze a state government account, provided it obtained a court order within the stipulated period.
He cited a 2022 Court of Appeal judgment involving the Benue State Government and the EFCC, which he said affirmed the commission’s power to place a Post No Debit restriction for not more than 72 hours before obtaining a court order.
“In this instance, the EFCC went to court, and the Federal High Court intervened based on information provided by the EFCC,” Falana said.
Following the controversy, President Bola Tinubu directed the EFCC to approach the court to vacate the order and discontinue the action, citing the timing of the restriction ahead of the August 15 Osun State governorship election.
Asked whether the Osun State Government would pursue its legal action despite the President’s intervention, Adekilekun said the decision would depend on the state government.
“Well, it depends on what my client thinks, which is the Osun State Government. If they give us the go-ahead, but I think and I believe that it should be tried,” he said.