Osun Government Denies ₦11bn Fraud, Accuses EFCC of Politics

(Ademola Adeleke. Photo Credit: TVC News)

The Osun State Government has rejected accusations by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission that ₦11 billion was misappropriated from its accounts, characterising the allegation as unfounded and driven by political interests.

According to a statement from the state’s Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, the true motivation behind the account restriction was to prevent disbursement of relief payments that the government had pledged to workers rather than to safeguard public resources from diversion.

The government stated that the relief payments had already been distributed following consultations with workers aimed at mitigating hardship caused by prevailing economic conditions.

Officials reiterated that state finances are deployed toward capital projects, employee compensation, and sectoral advancement initiatives.

The Osun administration has further charged the anti-graft agency with conducting what it characterised as a punitive investigation since March 2026, during which senior officials have faced recurring inquiries that have yielded no substantive proof of financial impropriety.

The government asserted that if the EFCC possessed credible grounds for alleging financial misconduct, the appropriate course would be to adhere to established legal frameworks rather than resort to asset seizure, which the government contends constitutes an illegitimate and politically expedient action.

The statement represented a formal response to the EFCC’s position that the accounts were restricted to prevent the suspected illicit diversion of resources in advance of the gubernatorial election scheduled for August 15.