According to senior attorney Femi Falana, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, or EFCC, behaved legally when it froze the Osun State Government’s account as long as it had the necessary court order.
peaking on the controversy surrounding the EFCC’s action, the attorney stated that the commission is legally able to impose a Post-No-Debit (PND) restriction on a state government’s account for a specific amount of time prior to obtaining a court order.
“The EFCC has not acted illegally in terms of the law,” he declared.
He referenced the 2022 Court of Appeal ruling in the Attorney-General of Benue State v. EFCC case, stating that the court upheld the commission’s authority to freeze a state government’s account, provided that it obtains a court order within 72 hours.
He clarified that the Federal High Court in Benue State had awarded N50 million in damages to the EFCC in 2019 after ruling that the agency lacked the authority to freeze the state government’s account.
He claims that when the EFCC challenged the ruling, the Court of Appeal ruled in 2022 that the agency could freeze the account as long as it obtained a court order within the allotted time frame.
Additionally, he cited a 2024 Supreme Court ruling concerning the Kogi State Government and other states, stating that the court upheld the authority of pertinent federal agencies to look into the financial accounts and operations of federal, state, and local governments.
“Well, in terms of the law, the EFCC has not acted illegally,” Falana stated. In reality, the President said, “I’m embarrassed, but I’m not questioning your mandate or the exercise of your power.” We’ll address that shortly.
The EFCC is authorised by law to freeze the accounts of any state or local government in Nigeria, as well as the federal government.
In 2022, the Attorney General of Benue State and the EFCC reached a settlement over this issue.
The Federal High Court in Benue State declared in 2019 that the EFCC was not authorised to freeze the state’s account and granted N50 million in damages to the EFCC.
“The EFCC proceeded to court, and the Court of Appeal ruled, I believe in September 2022, that the EFCC has the authority to freeze that state’s account and deposit PND for no more than 72 hours prior to receiving a court order. In Nigeria, it is still the law today.
“In 2024, the Kogi State Government, as with numerous other state governments, contested the EFCC’s or NFIU’s investigation and scrutiny of state finances. In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court reviewed all pertinent legislation and determined that these authorities had the authority to investigate the financial statements of any federal, state, or municipal [government].
As of right present, the EFCC has the authority to freeze any state’s account and must appear in court within 72 hours.
In this case, the EFCC filed a lawsuit, and the Federal High Court got involved based on the EFCC’s information.
“The Osun State Government has challenged the legality and validity of the order, not the timing, as should be done, after the President referred to the order obtained by the EFCC.”