Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun has ordered the state’s attorney-general to withdraw a lawsuit challenging the EFCC over the freezing of Osun’s bank account.
Speaking on Channels Television on Sunday morning, hours after INEC declared him winner of the August 15 governorship election, Adeleke said President Bola Tinubu personally called him and asked that the matter be dropped.
“I’m putting them behind. What else do I want? I have instructed my attorney general to drop it. Mr President has done well. He called me. What more do I want?” he said.
The background
The state had filed suit FHC/ABJ/CS/1762/2026 at the Federal High Court in Abuja on August 5. Osun was asking the court to nullify the EFCC’s directive and to award N2 billion in exemplary damages. The commission said the account was frozen as part of an investigation into alleged mismanagement of state funds.
Tinubu later directed the EFCC to lift the freeze immediately. He said he was embarrassed that actions by federal agencies were being linked to the presidency even when he had no prior knowledge.
Adeleke on the invitations and politics
The governor said he told his lawyers to assist aides and officials who were invited by the EFCC for questioning. Some of them, he noted, were released after being questioned.
Adeleke described the invitations as politically motivated. He also alleged that former governor Gboyega Oyetola, now minister of Marine and Blue Economy, was behind the EFCC action because of his family ties to Tinubu.
“All these things is Oyetola because he is the cousin to the president. He is dropping the president’s name,” Adeleke said. “I know that the president didn’t know about the EFCC one. That is why he had to call me and stop it.”
He added that the president has a lot of foreign engagements and may not be aware of some steps taken by agencies.
