Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s intervention in the freezing of Osun State Government accounts, saying the President ought to have acted through the Attorney-General of the Federation.
According to The Nation, Falana argued that the intervention should have taken into account the statutory independence of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the judicial process already initiated over the disputed accounts.
According to him, since the EFCC obtained a court order before restricting the accounts, any attempt to reverse the action should also have followed established legal procedures.
Falana said, “In intervening in the Osun State crisis, President Tinubu ought to have respected the independent status of the EFCC and the due process of law.
“As far as the law is concerned, the EFCC chairman is not at the beck and call of the President.”
Falana noted that the Osun State Government had already taken legal steps to challenge the freezing order before Tinubu intervened.
“From the information at our disposal, the EFCC obtained a court order and the Osun State Government had approached the court to vacate or set aside the ex parte order freezing the account,” he said.
He maintained that the existence of the court proceedings meant that the matter should have been resolved through the judicial process rather than through a direct presidential instruction to the anti-graft agency.
The senior lawyer said Tinubu could have instructed the Attorney-General of the Federation to take over the matter pursuant to Section 174 of the Constitution.
Falana said, “The President should have directed the AGF to take over the case under Section 174 of the Constitution with a view to withdrawing the case or discharging the ex parte.
“Once the AGF takes over the case, he will apply to vacate the order or withdraw the entire case.”
Falana added that the Attorney-General could also have decided not to oppose the application already filed by the Osun State Government seeking to overturn the restriction.
“In the alternative, the AGF may decide not to oppose the motion filed by the Osun State Government to vacate the ex parte order,” he stated.
Despite faulting the procedure adopted by the President, Falana appeared to welcome the eventual move towards restoring the state government’s access to its funds.
“But as William Shakespeare said in the title of one of his plays, ‘All is well that ends well,’” he said.
