Counsel to the Osun State Government, Prof. Mubarak Adekilekun (SAN), has said no court order was served on the state government or First Bank alongside the directive restricting access to the state’s statutory allocation account.

Adekilekun stated this on Friday while speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today, amid the controversy over the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s restriction of the account.

He said the law required a court order to be issued and served, particularly on the bank, before the restriction could be imposed.

He said the EFCC’s letter to the 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 there were provisions empowering the EFCC to act on suspected financial offences but argued that such powers must be read alongside 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.

“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.

Asked whether the EFCC could restrict an account for up to 72 hours before obtaining a court order, Adekilekun maintained that a court order was required.

“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.

Dismissing allegations of money laundering, the counsel said the account had only been used to receive 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. That’s one of the requirements,” he said.

His position came hours after human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, said that the EFCC had not acted illegally.

Falana said 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 Osun governorship election.

Asked whether the state government would pursue its legal action despite the President’s intervention, Adekilekun said the decision would depend on the state government.

“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.