Counsel to the Osun State Government, Prof. Mubarak Adekilekun (SAN), has said no court order was served on either the state government or First Bank alongside the directive restricting access to the state’s statutory allocation account.
Truth Live News gathered that Adekilekun made the disclosure on Friday, August 7, 2026, while appearing on Channels Television’s Politics Today, amid controversy surrounding the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s restriction of the account.
The senior lawyer argued that the law requires a court order to be issued and served, particularly on the bank, before such a restriction can be imposed.
According to him, the EFCC’s letter to First Bank was subsequently transmitted to the Osun State Government, but the bank confirmed that no court order was attached.
“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.
“The letter was forwarded to Osun State Government, where First Bank confirmed that no court order was attached to it,” Adekilekun said.
The SAN acknowledged that the EFCC has statutory powers to act on suspected financial offences but maintained that such powers must be exercised alongside the provisions of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act.
“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,” he said.
Adekilekun argued that the EFCC could not simply rely on the powers vested in its chairman to place a Post No Debit restriction on the state’s statutory account without complying with the relevant legal requirements.
Asked whether the EFCC could restrict an account for up to 72 hours before obtaining a court order, he maintained that a court order was required in the circumstances.
“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.
Adekilekun also dismissed allegations of money laundering, saying the account was used only for receiving allocations from the Federation Account.
“You can’t do an act of this magnitude and just say you are transmitting a letter to put a PND on a state government account. The only money that is being transferred to that account is from the Federation Account, pure federal domain,” he said.
His position came hours after human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, said the EFCC had not acted illegally in restricting the account.
Falana argued that the EFCC had the legal authority to freeze a state government account, provided it obtained a court order within the stipulated period.
He cited a 2022 Court of Appeal judgment involving the Benue State Government and the EFCC, which he said affirmed the commission’s power to place a Post No Debit restriction for not more than 72 hours before obtaining a court order.
“In this instance, the EFCC went to court, and the Federal High Court intervened based on information provided by the EFCC,” Falana said.
President Bola Tinubu subsequently directed the EFCC to approach the court to vacate the order and discontinue the action, citing the timing of the restriction ahead of the August 15, 2026, Osun governorship election.
Asked whether the Osun State Government would continue with its legal action despite the President’s intervention, Adekilekun said the decision would depend on his client.
“Well, it depends on what my client thinks, which is the Osun State Government. If they give us the go-ahead, but I think and I believe that it should be tried,” he said.
