The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has asked President Bola Tinubu to identify the court order he says backed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s freezing of Osun State Government accounts, hours after he directed the agency to reverse the action.
In a release signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, on Thursday, the party said it welcomed the president’s decision to stop the freeze but questioned his claim that a court order had authorised it in the first place. The ADC said the president was either misinformed or had misrepresented the facts.
Court order claim under scrutiny
The party said the EFCC never mentioned a court order in any of its earlier public defences of the freeze. It said the commission had instead relied on its statutory powers and what it called a “preventive mandate.” The ADC noted that the EFCC spokesperson also did not mention any court order when he appeared on Arise Television on Thursday morning.
Given this, the party asked where the president got information about a court order, and why the EFCC had not disclosed it while defending one of its most controversial actions in recent times. It said if no such order exists, the president should explain why he introduced one into the public conversation.
Party questions agency’s independence
The ADC also raised concerns about how the reversal came about. It noted that the president has always maintained he does not interfere in the operational work of anti-corruption agencies, yet his own statement announced that he had directed the EFCC to go to court, withdraw the order and drop the case.
The party said this shows the president can direct the EFCC on other matters too, not just this one, and that this weakens the argument that the agency operates independently. It said the presidency’s attempt to distance itself from the freeze had done the opposite, by showing that it can intervene based on political considerations.
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The ADC pointed out that the president’s statement was signed personally by him, rather than issued through the Presidency or any of its usual channels. It called this unusual and asked why the president chose to sign it himself instead of simply instructing the EFCC directly.
The party said the reversal did not come from any sudden interest in democratic conduct. It said it came about because of condemnation from Nigerians, civil society groups and political parties who saw the freeze as an abuse of state power aimed at influencing the outcome of the Osun governorship election.
The ADC ended its release by asking the president, since he has shown he can direct federal agencies to drop cases on public interest grounds, to also direct the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission and its lawyers to stop opposing the bail application filed by Nasir El-Rufai.
The freeze on the Osun State Government’s accounts had drawn criticism from various quarters before the president’s directive to the EFCC to discontinue the action. The ADC’s release was issued the same day the reversal was announced.
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