HUMAN rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has defended the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), insisting that the anti-graft agency acted within its legal powers when it froze an account belonging to the Osun State Government.
News Point Nigeria reports that Falana, who appeared on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, said the commission did not act unlawfully, stressing that President Bola Tinubu himself acknowledged the legality of the EFCC’s action while raising concerns only about its timing.
“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, that whereas, ‘I’m not questioning your mandate and the exercise of your powers; however, I’m embarrassed,’” Falana said.
According to the senior lawyer, the EFCC is empowered by law to freeze the accounts of the Federal Government, state governments or local governments where necessary, provided it approaches the court within 72 hours.
“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 and, in not more than 72 hours, has to go to court,” he added.
Falana also cautioned against creating the impression that anti-corruption agencies should suspend investigations simply because elections are approaching.
“We must be very careful that we don’t give the dangerous impression that when elections are 10, 20 or 30 days away, the anti-graft agency must turn the other eye. If funds are being moved to the tune of billions of naira, it cannot ignore such transactions simply because elections are coming,” he said.
On President Tinubu’s intervention in the matter, Falana said the concerns over the timing of the EFCC’s action could have been handled administratively through the Attorney-General of the Federation.
“The embarrassment alluded to by the President would have been handled by the Attorney-General of the Federation. The President would have advised the Attorney-General, ‘I am disturbed by the development in Osun State; please take over the case,’” the SAN suggested.
The controversy began on Wednesday when Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke accused the EFCC of freezing one of the state government’s accounts and described the action as politically motivated, particularly because it came days before the Osun governorship election.
The EFCC, however, said it froze the account after detecting suspicious movement of public funds into several corporate entities, maintaining that the action was in line with its statutory responsibility to protect public resources.
On Thursday, President Tinubu directed the commission to immediately approach the court to vacate the freezing order.
The President said although the EFCC acted within its mandate, the timing of the action was “inauspicious” and could create the impression of federal interference in the forthcoming governorship election.
Governor Adeleke has since filed a ₦2 billion suit against the EFCC over the matter.