The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has defended the legality of its restriction on an Osun State Government account, citing specific provisions of the law as its authority.
The commission’s Director of Public Affairs, Wilson Uwujaren, said the action did not require a prior court order, contrary to claims by the state government and the Nigerian Bar Association.
Uwujaren, who spoke in an interview with Arise Television on Thursday, explained that the commission moved against the account after noticing suspicious activities over the preceding week.
“As we indicated in the statement released by the Commission, we took that step to preserve the account of the Osun State Government.
“We observed in the past one week that activities on that account looked suspicious, and based on the mandate of the Commission, we took the step of placing a restriction on that account to preserve it,” he said.
He said the commission’s action was limited to one account and should not be mistaken for a wholesale freeze of the state’s finances.
“That restriction order does not mean that all the accounts of Osun State have been frozen. No. It is just a targeted restriction on one account of the Osun State Government,” he said.
