EFCC Says 18 States Are Under Investigation for Mismanagement of Public Funds
- EFCC spokesperson Wilson Uwujaren confirmed that about 18 states had ongoing investigations but refused to name them during a live TV interview
- The disclosure came as Uwujaren defended the commission's decision to freeze an Osun State government account, citing similar past action against Edo State
- Uwujaren revealed the EFCC has a 72-hour window to either obtain a court order to sustain the Osun freeze or lift the restriction entirely
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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has revealed that roughly 18 state governments across Nigeria are currently under investigation for alleged mismanagement of public funds.
Wilson Uwujaren, the commission's Director of Public Affairs, confirmed the figure during an interview on Arise Television on Thursday but declined to identify any of the states involved.
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Uwujaren's remarks came in the course of questions about the EFCC's recent decision to freeze an Osun State government account, which he described as one of a series of similar steps the commission had taken or was preparing to take.
"Like we said in the statement, there are about 18 other states that we have ongoing investigations," he said.
When pressed to name the states, Uwujaren declined, saying disclosure at this stage could compromise the probes. "Not running away per se, but not to jeopardise the investigation that is currently ongoing," he said.
EFCC Cites Edo State Precedent
According to PUNCH, Uwujaren said the Osun action was not unusual, pointing to a comparable intervention during the Edo State gubernatorial transition period, before Governor Monday Okpebholo came to office.
"Before, during the Edo State government, the Edo State election, before the coming of Governor Okpebholo, EFCC also took actions to restrict the account of that state government when we saw that funds were being moved to suspicious accounts. And we were able to preserve $12 billion for them. That is why the current government was able to come on board and have resources to work," he said.
He added that the commission's interventions were based on law and not designed to target any particular administration. "So this is not targeted at any particular government. We are simply doing our work under the law," he said.
On questions about why the EFCC had not acted similarly during the Ekiti State election period, Uwujaren said the situations were not comparable. "If you talk about what happened in Ekiti, we didn't have any reason to intervene the way we are intervening now. And you don't have access to the information that we have access to," he said.
Details of the Osun Account Restriction
Uwujaren clarified that only one statutory account belonging to the Osun State government had been restricted, leaving the state free to operate its other accounts.
He said the commission had a 72-hour window in which to secure a court order sustaining the freeze. "We have not exhausted that window, 72 hours, within which we either obtain a court order to continue to freeze it or lift the restriction on the other hand," he said.
Responding to reports that the Osun State government intended to approach the courts before the commission could act, Uwujaren acknowledged that was within the state's rights. "It's within their right to take that decision today. If we think they are right to take that decision, we are also working on what we should do as an agency," he said.
He cited Section 34 of the EFCC Act and Section 7, Subsection 6 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2022 as the legal basis for the account restrictions, noting these powers extended to any account showing suspicious activity.
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Uwujaren also stressed that the Osun investigation began in March and that several state officials had already been questioned before the account freeze drew public attention.
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Atiku reacts as EFCC freezes Osun state account
Legit.ng earlier reported that the 2027 African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has condemned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for freezing the Osun State Government's statutory allocation account in the days leading up to the state's governorship election.
Legit.ng reports that documents showed that the EFCC placed an Osun State Government account held at First Bank on 'Post No Debit' status.
Source: Legit.ng
