EFCC FAILED TO SERVE COURT ORDER ON OSUN ACCOUNT, SAYS GOVT’S COUNSEL
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By: Balogun Ibrahim
Counsel to the Osun State Government, Prof. Mubarak Adekilekun (SAN), has maintained that neither the state government nor First Bank was served with a court order authorising the restriction placed on the state’s statutory allocation account.
Adekilekun made this known on Friday while appearing on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where he discussed the controversy surrounding the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s (EFCC) action against the account.
According to the senior advocate, the law requires a court order to be obtained and properly served, particularly on the bank concerned, before a restriction can lawfully be imposed on an account.
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He explained that the EFCC initially wrote to First Bank, which subsequently forwarded the correspondence to the Osun State Government. However, the bank reportedly confirmed that the letter did not contain any accompanying court order.
“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.
While acknowledging that the EFCC has statutory powers to intervene in cases involving suspected financial crimes, Adekilekun argued that such powers must be exercised in accordance with the provisions of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act.
“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.
“You can’t just go in and say, ‘We are using our power vested in the Chairman of EFCC to now put a PND on the State Government’s statutory account,’” he said.
Asked whether the commission could impose a restriction for up to 72 hours before obtaining a court order, Adekilekun disagreed, insisting that judicial authorisation must be obtained first.
“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 said.
The lawyer also rejected claims that the account was connected to money laundering, stating that it was primarily used 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. That’s one of the requirements,” he said.
Adekilekun’s position came shortly after human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, defended the EFCC’s action, arguing that the commission did not act unlawfully.
Falana maintained that the EFCC has the legal authority to freeze a state government account, provided it obtains a court order within the period allowed by law.
He cited a 2022 Court of Appeal ruling involving the Benue State Government and the EFCC, which he said affirmed the commission’s power to place a Post No Debit restriction on an account for a maximum of 72 hours before seeking judicial approval.
The controversy escalated after President Bola Tinubu directed the EFCC to return to court to seek the vacation of the order and discontinue the action, citing concerns about the timing of the restriction ahead of the August 15 Osun State governorship election.
Asked whether the Osun State Government would proceed with its legal challenge despite the President’s intervention, Adekilekun said the decision would ultimately depend on his client.
“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.
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