Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke has accused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of plotting to freeze the bank accounts of the state government ahead of the August 15 governorship election.
Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, made this known in a statement on Wednesday.
According to Alimi, the governor raised the alarm on Tuesday during a meeting at the Government House in Osogbo, claiming that the anti-graft agency was also planning to extend the action to the accounts of senior government officials.
The statement said Adeleke described the alleged move as “the height of lawlessness” and argued that “the plot to freeze the state government accounts is meant to paralyse government activities ahead of the governorship election”.
“The governor affirmed that there is no legal basis or justification for any move to freeze the state government accounts, declaring that the anti-graft agency has no legal powers to freeze the account of a state government,” the statement added.
The EFCC had not responded to the allegation as of the time of filing this report.
Adeleke is seeking a second term on the platform of the Accord Party, while the All Progressives Congress is attempting to regain control of the state after spending four years in opposition.
The accusation comes amid rising political tension in Osun, where supporters of both parties have been involved in clashes in recent weeks as campaigns intensify ahead of the election.
At a campaign rally in Olorunda Local Government Area on Monday, Adeleke appealed to President Bola Tinubu to intervene in the violence, warning against a repeat of the political crisis that engulfed the South-West in 1983.
He maintained that the recent endorsement of Tinubu’s re-election by the Accord Party in Osun should encourage federal intervention to ease tensions in the state.
According to the governor, the president’s intervention is needed to halt the “loss of innocent lives” in the state, noting that “all we are asking for is simply a free and fair election”.
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