President Bola Tinubu has directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to immediately lift the freezing order placed on the Osun State Government’s bank account and take steps to vacate the court order authorising the restriction.

In a personally signed statement issued on Thursday, the President said he was deeply embarrassed by the timing of the EFCC’s action, although he acknowledged that the anti-graft agency acted within its statutory powers after obtaining a court order. Tinubu stressed that while he remained committed to allowing anti-corruption agencies to operate independently without political interference, the decision to freeze the account just days before the August 15 Osun governorship election could create the wrong public perception.

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“It has come to my notice that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) obtained a court order on August 5, 2026, freezing the accounts of the Osun State Government. I must state that I feel deeply embarrassed not by the EFCC’s exercise of its mandate backed by a court order, but by the timing of the agency’s action,” the President said. He added that every action taken by a federal institution is often attributed to him, even when he has no prior knowledge of it.

Tinubu reiterated that since assuming office, he has deliberately refrained from interfering in the operations of law enforcement and anti-corruption agencies, insisting that strong democratic institutions must be allowed to function independently. However, he said the timing of the EFCC’s action compelled him to intervene in the overriding public interest. “While I am yet to be fully apprised of the facts which informed the action of EFCC in approaching the court to obtain the said order freezing the Osun State Government account, I am not in the slightest doubt that the timing of the action of EFCC is inauspicious,” he stated.

The President warned that no action should create the impression that the Federal Government or any of its agencies was attempting to influence the forthcoming Osun governorship election. He therefore directed the EFCC to immediately return to court to vacate the freezing order and discontinue the action against the state government. “Osun State is only a few days away from its gubernatorial election. Therefore, nothing ought to be done to give an impression that the EFCC or indeed any other agency of the federal government is being used to interfere with the election,” Tinubu declared.

The directive comes after the EFCC disclosed that it froze one Osun State Government account following the discovery of what it described as suspicious transactions involving large transfers to corporate accounts. The commission maintained that the restriction was part of an investigation into the alleged mismanagement of about ₦11 billion in public funds and insisted the action had no connection with the August 15 governorship election. Tinubu’s intervention, however, effectively brings the enforcement action to a halt pending the lifting of the court order.