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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) did not serve a court order alongside its directive restricting access to the Osun State Government’s statutory allocation account, the state’s counsel said on Friday, as a legal battle over the freeze intensified days before the governorship election.
Professor Mubarak Adekilekun (SAN), counsel to the Osun State Government, said the law required a court order to be issued and served, particularly on the bank, before such a restriction could be imposed.
“You will recall that after the letter was written to First Bank in Osun, which in turn transmitted the letter to the state government, the requirement of the law in this regard is that a court order must be issued and served on, especially, First Bank,” Adekilekun said on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
“The letter was forwarded to the Osun State Government, where First Bank confirmed that no court order was attached to it,” he said.
Adekilekun stated that the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act must be read in conjunction with the provisions that allow the EFCC to take action on suspected financial offences.
“They were trying to justify their action that if they do not do it, the account could be compromised. Yes, we agree there are some provisions of the law that say EFCC can, but if you interpret this in conjunction with Section 7 of the MLA, it says that there must be a court order served on that party.
“You can’t just go in and say, ‘Er, we are using our power vested in the chairman of EFCC to now put a PND on the state government’s statutory account,’” he said.
Adekilekun insisted that a court order was necessary when asked if the EFCC could restrict an account for up to 72 hours without first getting one.
“See, in this regard, EFCC must get a court order. The laws are there. If you read the provision I’m talking about, Section 7 of the Money Laundering Act, it stipulates that court order must be served. It is there,” he insisted.
