Barely 12 days to the August 15 gubernatorial poll in Osun, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Wednesday, requested First Bank Plc to place an embargo on all bank accounts of the state government.

The development came as Governor Ademola Adeleke, while addressing a press conference in Government House, declared that no amount of victimisation or desperation by the opposition can stop his re-election.

According to the letter sighted by The Guardian dated August 5, 2026, with reference no CR3000/EFCC/ABJ/PFS/TA/OSUN/VO.17/666, and addressed to the Manager of First Bank Plc, Abuja, the EFCC said, “In furtherance of the above, you are kindly requested to place a No-Post-Debit on the account.

“This request is made pursuant to Section 38 (1) and (2) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act 2004 and the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

The letter was endorsed by ACE I. Adenike S. Babalola on behalf of the EFCC Director of Investigation.

However, Adeleke, who was flanked by the Commissioners for Justice and Finance ministries, Oluwole Jimi Bada and Sola Ogunbile, respectively, declared that his administration will challenge the EFCC decision in court.

According to him, “you are aware of constant police raids and arrest of Accord leaders for no reason and without any warrant of arrest. Several Accord members have been killed, and 60 Accord members have been arrested and taken to Abuja and detained without any charges.

Adeleke alleged that “these intimidation and attacks were carried out on the order of an All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain (Name withheld) over an election his candidate cannot win. As if all these were not enough, this morning, we received a letter from our banker, forwarding a letter from the EFCC, instructing the bank to freeze the Osun State Government Account.

“This action was taken without any court order. We are supposed to be in a democracy, where the Rule of Law must always prevail. We will therefore not accept a situation where federal agencies trample on the constitutional rights of subnational governments.

“This is a threat to our democracy. If we all keep quiet and allow this illegality, very soon, whatever is left of our democracy will be fully eroded. All I ask is for the EFCC chairman to explain to the good people of Osun State and to Nigerians in general, why he froze the Osun State Government Account, and show proof to support whatever reason he presents.

“This and all other illegalities being visited on Osun State are turning our democracy into a huge joke. I have instructed my Attorney General to challenge this illegality at the Federal High Court, Osogbo. As for me, we are pushing ahead with our campaign,” Adeleke declared.