Senior lawyer and human rights advocate, Femi Falana, has said the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) acted within the law when it froze the Osun State Government’s account, provided the commission obtained the necessary court order.
Falana, who spoke on the controversy surrounding the EFCC’s action, said the commission is legally empowered to place a Post-No-Debit (PND) restriction on the account of a state government for a limited period before seeking a court order.
“As far as the law is concerned, the EFCC has not acted illegally,” Falana said.
He cited a 2022 judgment of the Court of Appeal in the case between the Attorney-General of Benue State and the EFCC, saying the court affirmed the commission’s authority to freeze a state government account, subject to obtaining a court order within 72 hours.
According to Falana, the Federal High Court in Benue State had, in 2019, ruled that the EFCC lacked the authority to freeze the state government’s account and awarded N50 million in damages against the commission.
He said the EFCC appealed the decision, and the Court of Appeal subsequently ruled in 2022 that the commission could freeze the account and place a PND restriction on it for no more than 72 hours while seeking a court order.
Falana also referenced 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.
“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,” he said.
He added that, in the Osun case, the EFCC eventually obtained a court order after providing information to the Federal High Court.
“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,” Falana said.
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