Omanghana
Social Democratic Party presidential candidate Prince Adewole Adebayo has said President Bola Tinubu, rather than Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Chairman Ola Olukoyede, should resign over the controversy surrounding the freezing of the Osun State Government’s bank accounts.
Speaking at a press briefing at the SDP national secretariat in Abuja on Thursday, August 6, 2026, Adebayo defended Olukoyede, arguing that the anti-corruption agency was exercising its statutory responsibilities when it restricted the accounts under investigation.
His comments followed growing calls for the EFCC chairman to step down after Tinubu directed the commission to lift the restrictions less than 10 days before Osun State’s August 15 governorship election.
“The person who ought to resign is President Bola Tinubu. I really don’t have enough evidence to suggest that the EFCC chairman should go. The only person who is at fault here is the President himself,” Adebayo said.
He accused the president of interfering in the work of an institution empowered by law to investigate suspected financial wrongdoing. According to him, political intervention in an ongoing investigation risks weakening the independence of law-enforcement agencies.
Adebayo maintained that if the Osun State Government believed the restrictions were unlawful, it should have challenged the EFCC’s action through the courts.
“If the EFCC wrongly froze the account of Osun State Government, there are legal remedies that could be taken to unfreeze it, including getting damages against the commission,” he stated.
He argued that the EFCC chairman had the legal authority to restrict an account considered relevant to an investigation, subject to judicial supervision. The SDP politician therefore rejected attempts to place responsibility for the controversy solely on Olukoyede.
Adebayo said he would continue to defend institutions such as the EFCC, police and Department of State Services when officials act within their lawful mandates, even while opposing their use for partisan purposes.
He insisted that ultimate responsibility rested with the presidency, saying, “The buck stops at the table of the President.”
The dispute has intensified political tensions in Osun State ahead of the governorship election. Critics have questioned both the timing of the EFCC’s action and the appropriateness of direct presidential intervention in the commission’s operations.
Tinubu reportedly described the account freeze as embarrassing because of its proximity to the election and directed the EFCC to reverse it. Adebayo, however, argued that concerns about timing should have been addressed through established legal procedures rather than an executive directive.
Source: Omanghana
