The Osun State Government has accused former governor Gboyega Oyetola of using the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to sabotage Governor Ademola Adeleke ahead of the August 15 governorship election.
The government made the allegation while rejecting the EFCC’s claim that it froze the state’s bank accounts over alleged fraudulent handling of N11bn in Ecology Funds, Intervention Funds and Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) allocations.
The Osun government did back its allegation with any evidence.
The development comes barely nine days before the governorship election in the state.
The EFCC, in a statement on Wednesday, said it had been investigating the Osun State Government since March 2026 over the alleged financial mismanagement of the funds totalling N11bn.
The commission said its investigation involved interviews with some state officials, including the Accountant-General, and that the findings initially did not warrant freezing the state government’s accounts.
However, it said it was compelled to place a Post No Debit order on the accounts after detecting what it described as “huge transfers of funds into different corporate entities” from August 2.
According to the EFCC, the movement of funds into different “suspicious” accounts prompted it to swiftly halt the transactions to prevent further dissipation of public funds.
The anti-graft agency said its action was part of its preventive mandate to safeguard public funds, assets and resources, insisting that the impending governorship election did not prevent it from carrying out its statutory responsibilities.
“The EFCC’s preventive mandate is a public-inclined framework of safeguarding public funds, assets and resources. The Commission cannot watch idly while a state government’s account is being pillaged,” the commission said.
The commission also dismissed suggestions that its action was politically motivated, saying it was monitoring the finances of several states and that its investigations were non-partisan.
But the Osun State Government rejected the EFCC’s explanation, describing the N11bn looting allegation as an unfounded claim designed to justify what it called an illegal freezing of the state’s accounts.
The Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Oluomo Alimi, in a statement on Thursday, alleged that the account freeze was carried out “on the order of Gboyega Oyetola” and was aimed at stopping the payment of palliatives to state workers.
Alimi described the alleged move as part of what he called the “historic anti-workers’ obsession” of Oyetola’s administration.
The commissioner said the state had already paid the palliatives to workers following negotiations with labour unions to cushion the impact of the harsh economic climate.
He maintained that the government had not looted public funds, arguing that the state’s resources were being deployed to mega projects, workers’ welfare and development across sectors.
“We don’t loot public funds in Osun state; we deliver on public goods and services,” Alimi said.
The government further accused the EFCC of conducting a “witch-hunting investigation” since March, alleging that state officials had been subjected to weekly harassment without any indicting evidence against senior government officials.
It also accused the commission of pursuing what it described as a “hatchet job” for the All Progressives Congress (APC), particularly ahead of the August 15 governorship election.
The Osun Government argued that if the EFCC had evidence of financial wrongdoing, established legal procedures should be followed to prosecute those responsible rather than freezing the state’s accounts.
The government also cited Osun’s awards for budget and auditing transparency as evidence of its commitment to financial accountability.
Alimi described the EFCC’s explanation for the account freeze as an “afterthought” intended to cover up what he called an unlawful action.
The EFCC, however, urged members of the public to disregard what it termed false narratives and attempts to demonise its work, insisting that its actions were aimed at protecting public resources.
The commission said it remained aware of the political sensitivity of its intervention but maintained that the state’s finances must be protected regardless of the approaching election.
Meanwhile, Governor Adeleke on Wednesday disclosed that he had directed the Osun State Attorney-General to challenge the EFCC’s action at the Federal High Court in Osogbo.
