A senior lawyer, Femi Falana, has said the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, acted within the law by freezing the Osun State Government’s account, provided it obtained the required court order.
Speaking on the controversy surrounding the EFCC’s action, the lawyer said the commission has the legal authority to place a Post-No-Debit (PND) restriction on the account of a state government for a limited period before obtaining a court order.
“As far as the law is concerned, the EFCC has not acted illegally,” he said.
He cited the 2022 Court of Appeal judgment in the case involving the Attorney-General of Benue State and the EFCC, saying the court affirmed the commission’s power to freeze a state government’s account, subject to the requirement that it obtain a court order within 72 hours.
He explained that the Federal High Court in Benue State had ruled in 2019 that the EFCC lacked the power to freeze the state government’s account and awarded N50 million in damages against the commission.
According to him, the EFCC appealed the decision, and the Court of Appeal subsequently held in 2022 that the commission had the power to freeze the account, provided it secured a court order within the stipulated period.
He also referred to a 2024 Supreme Court judgment involving the Kogi State Government and other states, saying the apex court affirmed the powers of relevant federal agencies to investigate the financial activities and accounts of federal, state and local governments.
Falana said: “Well, as far as the law is concerned, the EFCC has not acted illegally. As a matter of fact, that came out in the statement of the President that whereas I’m not questioning your mandate and the exercise of your power, however, I’m embarrassed. We’ll come to that in a moment.
“Under the law, the EFCC has the power to freeze the account of the federal government or of any state or local government in Nigeria.
“This matter was settled in the case of Attorney-General of Benue State and the EFCC in 2022.
“In 2019, the Federal High Court in that state, in Benue State, had ruled that the EFCC lacked the power to freeze the account of the state and awarded N50 million damages against the EFCC.
“The EFCC went to court, and in a judgment delivered, I think in September 2022, the Court of Appeal held that the EFCC has the power to freeze the account of that state and place PND of not more than 72 hours before obtaining a court order. Now it remains the law in Nigeria today.
“In 2024, the Kogi State Government, joined by many state governments, challenged the investigation, probing of state accounts by the EFCC, or NFIU. And in a historic judgment, the Supreme Court examined all the relevant laws and came to the conclusion that these agencies have the power to probe the accounts of any of the federal, state or local [governments].
“For now, as of today, EFCC has the power to freeze the account of any state, and in not more than 72 hours has to go to court.
“In this instance, the EFCC went to court, and the Federal High Court intervened based on information provided by the EFCC.
“The President referred to the order obtained by the EFCC, and as it should be done, Osun State Government has challenged the legality, the validity of the order, not the timing.”
Osun: EFCC legally empowered to freeze FG, state govt accounts – Falana