The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has disclosed that it is currently investigating the alleged mismanagement of public funds in about 18 states across Nigeria, insisting that its ongoing probe into the finances of the Osun State Government is part of a broader nationwide anti-corruption exercise.

The commission made the disclosure on Thursday as it defended its decision to place a temporary restriction on one of Osun State’s statutory accounts, stressing that the action was lawful, non-political and backed by existing financial crime laws.

Speaking during an interview on Arise Television, the EFCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Wilson Uwujaren, said the anti-graft agency deliberately withheld the identities of the affected states to avoid compromising ongoing investigations.

“Like we said in the statement, there are about 18 other states that have ongoing investigations,” Uwujaren said.

When asked to identify the states under investigation, he declined.

“I don’t want to start mentioning those states by name now,” he said.

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Uwujaren dismissed suggestions that the commission was protecting some state governments while targeting others, maintaining that confidentiality was necessary to preserve the integrity of the investigations.

“Not running away per se, but not to jeopardise the investigation that is currently ongoing,” he explained.

Osun Probe Part of Wider Anti-Corruption Drive

The EFCC spokesperson said the commission’s action against Osun State should not be viewed as an isolated case, recalling that the agency had previously imposed similar restrictions on an Edo State Government account before Governor Monday Okpebholo assumed office.

According to him, the intervention in Edo helped prevent the movement of public funds into suspicious accounts.

“Before the coming of Governor Okpebholo, EFCC also took actions to restrict the account of that state government when we saw that funds were being moved to suspicious accounts.

“And we were able to preserve $12 billion for them. That is why the current government was able to come on board and have resources to work,” he said.

Uwujaren stressed that the EFCC applies the law uniformly and does not target any particular administration.

“So this is not targeted at any particular government. We are simply doing our work under the law,” he added.

Why EFCC Didn’t Act During Ekiti Election

Responding to criticisms that the commission did not take similar action during the Ekiti governorship election, Uwujaren said the circumstances were different.

“If you talk about what happened in Ekiti, we didn’t have any reason to intervene the way we are intervening now. And you don’t have access to the information that we have access to,” he said.

Only One Osun Account Restricted

The EFCC clarified that it had placed a temporary restriction on only one statutory account belonging to the Osun State Government and not all of the state’s bank accounts.

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Uwujaren said the action does not prevent the government from conducting its financial activities through other accounts.

“We only targeted one statutory account, which is restricted, temporary restriction on that account. And it does not stop the government from operating other accounts that they have. It’s only one account that is frozen for now,” he explained.

72-Hour Window for Court Order

The commission further disclosed that it has a statutory 72-hour period within which it must either obtain a court order to sustain the restriction or lift it.

“We have a 72 hours window to obtain a court order, which the commission is at liberty to do.

“We have not exhausted that window, 72 hours, within which we either obtain a court order to continue to freeze it or lift the restriction on the other hand,” Uwujaren stated.

On the Osun State Government’s decision to challenge the restriction in court, he said the state was entitled to seek judicial intervention.

“It’s within their right to take that decision today. If we think they are right to take that decision, we are also working on what we should do as an agency,” he said.

Investigation Began Months Ago

Uwujaren also revealed that the investigation into Osun State’s finances did not begin recently, stating that the probe commenced in March 2026.

According to him, several officials of the state government have already been questioned as part of the investigation.

“But as it is now, I want to restate the fact that the Osun State case didn’t start today. It started way back in March. And a number of officials from that state have been interviewed in course of this investigation. So it didn’t just begin now,” he said.