Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke has directed the state Attorney-General to withdraw the suit filed against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the freezing of the state government’s bank account.

Adeleke disclosed this in an interview with Channels Television, shortly after he was declared the winner of the August 15 governorship election.The governor said he decided to end the legal battle following President Bola Tinubu’s intervention, adding that the President’s personal call was enough to resolve the matter.

“I’m putting them behind. What else do I want? I have instructed my attorney general to drop it. Mr President has done well. He called me. What more do I want?” Adeleke asked.

The dispute began after the EFCC froze the Osun government’s statutory allocation account as part of an investigation into alleged fraudulent handling of funds by the state government.In response, the Osun government approached the Federal High Court in Abuja, asking the court to overturn the EFCC’s directive and award N2 billion in exemplary damages against the commission.

The suit, filed on August 5, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1762/2026, had put the state government and the anti-graft agency on a direct legal collision.The situation changed after Tinubu intervened and directed the EFCC to lift the freeze on the accounts.

The President had also expressed concern that actions by federal agencies were sometimes attributed to him despite his lack of prior knowledge.Adeleke said he believed this was the case with the EFCC action.

“Most of these things, the president doesn’t know. The president has a lot of foreign work and jobs to do,” he said.

The governor also spoke about reports that some of his aides and officials had been invited by the EFCC for questioning. He said he had instructed his lawyers to assist them and noted that some of those who honoured the invitations had been released after questioning.

“Well, we have been talking. I have been calling all my lawyers to go there,” he said.

Despite withdrawing the suit, Adeleke maintained that the EFCC action was politically motivated. He specifically accused former Osun governor and Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola, of being behind the move.

“All these things is Oyetola because he is the cousin to the president. He is dropping the president’s name,” Adeleke said.
“I know that the president didn’t know about the EFCC one. That is why he had to call me and stop it.”

The withdrawal of the suit marks a significant change in the relationship between the Osun government and the EFCC, at least on the immediate issue of the frozen account.

While the legal action is being discontinued, the underlying EFCC investigation remains a separate matter. The commission had insisted that its actions were part of its statutory responsibilities and connected to an ongoing inquiry.

For Adeleke, however, Tinubu’s intervention appears to have provided a way out of the confrontation, allowing the governor to set aside the lawsuit and focus on the next phase of his administration following his electoral victory.