The African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) have slammed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for freezing Osun government’s bank accounts, alleging that the political intimidation is targeted at the opposition ahead of the state’s governorship election.
The ADC, in a statement by its national publicity secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, on Wednesday, excoriated President Bola Tinubu’s government for undermining democracy, describing the move as “political terrorism and intimidation” by using federal agencies to act against the political interests of the people ahead of the state’s governorship election.
“The African Democratic Congress (ADC) condemns in the strongest possible terms the freezing of the statutory allocations due to the local governments of Osun State. This is not an administrative decision or a legal dispute. It is political terrorism by the Bola Tinubu-led APC government carried out with the instruments of the Nigerian state in order to achieve the singular objective of undermining the state government ahead of the coming governorship election in the state.
“The freezing of local government funds is only the latest chapter in what has become a systematic campaign to undermine constitutional government in the state. For well over a year, unelected APC loyalists have continued their illegal occupation of Local Government Councils, in open disregard for democratic legitimacy and the rule of law. Instead of protecting constitutional order, federal institutions have looked the other way and even encouraged the illegality,” the ADC statement said.
The party called for the immediate “restoration of all statutory allocations due to the local governments of Osun state, the withdrawal of all forms of federal intimidation against the people of the state, and the restoration of constitutional order”.
Osa Director, NDC’s spokesman, slammed the Tinubu government for brazen “executive rascality”.
“The freezing of Osun State’s account is a brazen display of executive rascality. Never in the political history of Nigeria have we seen a desperate and intolerant government. Why is the APC so afraid of opposition, with their claims of having 31 governors in their fold?
“APC is a disgrace to whatever democracy represents. All the opposition parties and Nigerians should rise up and condemn this abominable act, as APC is just flying a kite towards the 2027 general elections,” Mr Director said.
The EFCC claimed on Wednesday that the Osun state government account was frozen “to save public funds from being looted”. It stated this hours after placing a post-no-debit on the state’s statutory allocation account barely 10 days to the August 15 governorship election.
Meanwhile, the Governor Ademola Adeleke administration said it would take legal action against the anti-graft agency for freezing the state’s account, describing the action as a threat to democracy.