Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has said the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) acted within the law by freezing an account belonging to the Osun State Government.

Falana, who spoke on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, said the EFCC had the legal authority to restrict the account of a state government, provided it obtained a court order within the period prescribed by law.

According to him, the legal authority of the anti-graft agency to freeze government accounts has already been settled by the courts.

He cited a 2022 judgment of the Court of Appeal arising from a legal dispute between the Benue State Government and the EFCC, saying the appellate court affirmed the commission’s power to freeze a government account and impose a Post No Debit (PND) restriction for up to 72 hours pending the acquisition of a court order.

“Well, as far as the law is concerned, the EFCC has not acted illegally. As a matter of fact, that came out in the statement of the President: ‘I’m not questioning your mandate and the exercise of your power. However, I’m embarrassed,’” Falana said.

He explained that the EFCC could initially impose a PND restriction on an account for a maximum of 72 hours, after which it must approach the court for an order to sustain 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.

Falana recalled that the Federal High Court in Benue State had, in 2019, ruled against the EFCC in a case concerning the freezing of the state's account and awarded N50 million in damages against the commission.

However, he said the EFCC appealed the decision and the Court of Appeal, in a judgment delivered in September 2022, reversed the position of the lower court.

He said the appellate court affirmed the EFCC’s authority to freeze government accounts and impose a PND restriction for no more than 72 hours before obtaining a court order.

“That remains the law in Nigeria today,” the SAN said.

He further referred to a 2024 Supreme Court judgment arising from a challenge by the Kogi State Government and other states to the powers of anti-corruption agencies to investigate state finances.

Falana said the Supreme Court, after examining the relevant laws, affirmed the powers of the EFCC, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) to investigate accounts at the federal, state and local government levels.

“In 2024, the Kogi State government, joined by many state governments, challenged the investigation—probing of state accounts by EFCC, ICPC, or NFIU. And in a historic judgment, the Supreme Court examined all the relevant laws and came to the conclusion that these agencies have the power to probe the accounts of any organization, either at the federal, state, or local government. That remains the law in Nigeria,” he said.

Falana said any attempt to alter the existing legal framework should be directed to 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.

He maintained that the EFCC followed the required legal procedure in the Osun case by approaching the court, which subsequently issued the order based on information presented by the commission.

“In this instance, the EFCC went to court, and the Federal High Court intervened based on information provided by the EFCC,” Falana said.

The controversy followed the EFCC’s restriction of an Osun State statutory allocation account amid an investigation into the alleged movement of about N11 billion in Ecology Funds, Intervention Funds and Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) allocations.

The commission said the restriction was temporary, limited to one account and based on its powers under the EFCC Act and the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

President Bola Tinubu subsequently directed the EFCC to approach the court to vacate the order and discontinue the action, citing concerns over its timing ahead of the August 15 Osun State governorship election.

However, Falana said the Osun State Government had challenged the legality and validity of the court order, rather than merely questioning its timing.

“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,” he said.

The SAN warned against creating a precedent whereby anti-corruption agencies would be expected to suspend investigations whenever elections are approaching.

He said such a situation could create the impression that financial investigations should be halted during election periods, even where large sums of money are allegedly being moved.

“Because 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,” Falana said.

He described such an impression as dangerous, stressing that the timing of an election should not, by itself, prevent anti-corruption agencies from investigating alleged financial misconduct.