The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has strongly condemned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for instructing First Bank to place an immediate “Post-No-Debit” restriction on the Osun State Government’s statutory allocation account, warning that the anti-graft agency lacks the constitutional mandate to impose blanket financial restrictions without prior judicial authorisation.
Through a statement delivered by NBA President Afam Osigwe (SAN), the Bar cautioned that issuing unilateral administrative directives to freeze state government accounts undermines the rule of law, violates federalism, and threatens to cripple public administration ahead of the state’s 15 August governorship election.
The controversy centres on a 5 August 2026 letter (Ref: 3000/EFCC/ABJ/HQ/PFS/TA/OSUN/VOL.17/666) signed by EFCC Assistant Commander Adenike Babalola on behalf of the Director of Investigation. The directive ordered First Bank to halt all withdrawals from Osun State’s main allocation account (No. 2017170947) following alleged suspicious movements of funds linked to an ongoing ₦11 billion probe involving Ecology, Intervention, and FAAC allocations.
The NBA President firmly rejected the legality of the EFCC’s approach, stressing that while the commission possesses statutory powers to investigate financial crimes, it cannot usurp the authority of the judiciary by unilaterally freezing public accounts.
“No government agency or any person has the right or the power to restrict withdrawals from the account of any state because, first of all, the order has the effect of grounding the activities of a government,” Osigwe asserted.
“If the EFCC knows that any particular account is being used for the purpose of fraud, it may be able to obtain a court order, but it cannot make a blanket order freezing the accounts of any state.”
The NBA President further characterised the move as unconstitutional and an abuse of executive power, advising financial institutions against enforcing arbitrary, non-judicial directives.
“I don’t think it would be proper if indeed the EFCC made such an order… if they made such an order, I would advise that no bank should obey such an order,” Osigwe added, urging the commission to obtain valid interim court orders under Section 34 of the EFCC Act whenever statutory account freezing becomes necessary.
In response to the growing legal backlash, the EFCC issued a statement via its Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, maintaining that its actions were preventive rather than politically motivated.
The anti-graft agency stated that while it had been interviewing key state officials, including the Accountant-General, since March 2026, it was forced to intervene after detecting “precipitate and unwarranted” transfers of heavy funds into private and corporate accounts starting 2 August 2026.
The commission maintained that it was acting in the public interest to protect state assets, insisting that the proximity of the 15 August governorship election would not deter it from executing its statutory duties.
The NBA maintains that administrative convenience must never supersede constitutional limits, reiterating that anti-corruption enforcement must strictly align with due process to preserve democratic governance.