Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has said the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) did not act illegally by freezing an account belonging to the Osun State Government.
Falana said the anti-graft agency had the legal authority to place restrictions on accounts belonging to federal, state and local governments, provided it complied with the requirement to obtain a court order within the stipulated period.
The senior lawyer stated this on Friday while appearing on Channels Television’s Politics Today amid controversy surrounding the EFCC’s action against an Osun State statutory allocation account.
According to him, previous decisions of the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court have established the powers of anti-corruption agencies to investigate government finances.
“Well, as far as the law is concerned, the EFCC has not acted illegally,” Falana said.
Falana explained that the commission could initially place a Post No Debit restriction on an account for up to 72 hours, after which it must obtain judicial authorisation to maintain the restriction.
“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,” he said.
The SAN cited a legal dispute between the Benue State Government and the EFCC.
According to him, the Federal High Court had in 2019 ruled that the commission lacked the authority to freeze the state’s account and subsequently awarded ₦50m in damages against the agency.
However, Falana said the EFCC challenged the decision at the Court of Appeal.
He said the appellate court, in September 2022, overturned the position and affirmed the commission’s power to restrict an account temporarily before obtaining a court order.
“That remains the law in Nigeria today,” he said.
Falana also referred to a 2024 Supreme Court judgment arising from a suit instituted by the Kogi State Government and joined by other states challenging the authority of federal anti-corruption agencies to investigate state finances.
He said the apex court examined the relevant legislation and upheld the powers of the EFCC, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission and Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit to investigate accounts at different levels of government.
According to Falana, those dissatisfied with the existing legal framework should seek an amendment through the National Assembly.
“If Nigerians—those who are concerned—want the law changed, they can go to the National Assembly. But 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.
Falana said the EFCC obtained judicial intervention in the Osun case based on information presented to the Federal High Court.
“In this instance, the EFCC went to court, and the Federal High Court intervened based on information provided by the EFCC,” he said.
He added that the Osun State Government had appropriately challenged the legality and validity of the order rather than merely questioning the timing of the action.
“The President referred to the order obtained by the EFCC. And as should be done, the Osun State Government has challenged the legality, the validity of the order, not the timing,” Falana said.
The senior lawyer also cautioned against establishing a precedent under which anti-corruption agencies would be expected to suspend investigations because an election was approaching.
He argued that such an approach could potentially provide governments with a window to move public funds without scrutiny during election periods.
“We must also be very careful that we don’t give a dangerous impression that when elections are 10 days away, 20 days away, 30 days away, the anti-graft agencies must turn the other eye,” he said.
Falana added that the proximity of an election should not automatically prevent anti-graft agencies from examining suspicious movements involving billions of naira.
The EFCC had said the restriction followed its investigation into the alleged fraudulent handling of about ₦11bn in Ecology Funds, Intervention Funds and Federation Account Allocation Committee funds.
The commission said it acted after detecting what it described as suspicious transfers from the account beginning on August 2.
President Bola Tinubu subsequently directed the EFCC to approach the court to vacate the order and discontinue the restriction, citing concerns about the timing of the action ahead of the August 15 Osun governorship election.