Adeleke was recently re-elected for a second term as Governor of Osun State after defeating twelve other candidates.
By Kehinde Okeowo
Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has asserted that President Bola Tinubu is unaware of certain actions taken by federal agencies, tracing the freezing of the state account by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) prior to the governorship election to the President’s cousin and Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola.
He levelled the allegation against his predecessor while appearing as a guest on Channels Television on Sunday.
A few days before the recently concluded Osun State gubernatorial election, the EFCC froze a bank account belonging to the state as part of an investigation into the alleged mismanagement of approximately ₦11 billion.
The anti-graft agency noted that it had identified suspicious fund movements and restricted the account to prevent any further transactions while the investigation was ongoing.
In response, President Tinubu instructed the commission to return to court to lift the order and cease related actions, expressing concern that the timing might suggest a federal agency was being utilised to meddle in the election.
Adeleke was subsequently re-elected for a second term as Governor of Osun State, receiving 511,067 votes to defeat twelve other candidates, including his closest rival, the APC’s Bola Oyebamiji, who garnered 444,815 votes.
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However, speaking during the interview after the election, the incumbent Osun governor absolved Tinubu of any wrongdoing.
“The President is not aware of most of these matters. He has numerous foreign responsibilities and tasks to attend to,” Adeleke said.
He further noted that some of his aides were summoned by the EFCC for questioning, but were released after no evidence of wrongdoing was found.
“I told my people, go there. We haven’t got anything to hide. And when they went there, they asked them questions, and then they said, ‘go on.’ Can you imagine my spokesperson? You are inviting my spokesperson — is my spokesperson a finance minister or an accountant?” Adeleke added.
He went on to characterise the invitations as a diversion and claimed that Oyetola was responsible for the situation due to his connection with President Tinubu.
“All these things are Oyetola, because he is the cousin to the President. He is dropping the President’s name. I know that the President didn’t know about the EFCC one. That is why he had to call me and stop it,” Adeleke alleged.
