EFCC Showed Interest In Checking ‘Our Books’ Coz I Defied APC Bigwig’s Warning Not To Launch Presidential Bid-Gov Makinde
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State on Thursday indirectly called the steps taken by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to examine the state government’s books ‘political victimization’.
The governor disclosed that EFCC showed interest in taking the action in question a day after an APC bigwig warned him not to launch his 2027 presidential bid.
EFCC had according to him requested copies of all contracts and payments made to contractors by the state government from 2021 to 2025, without mentioning a specific contractor, company, or transaction.
Team@orientactualmags.com learned that Governor Makinde said this in his July 2026 monthly newsletter on Thursday, and it was apparently done to react to the ruling of Federal High Court, Ibadan on Wednesday which had restrained EFCC from proceeding with its planned investigation into the finances of the Oyo State Government.
.Recall that Governor Seyi Makinde officially launched his 2027 presidential bid on Thursday, May 14, 2026, during the joint ‘mega-rally’ held by PDP and APM at Mapo Hall , Ibadan.
‘The EFCC’s proposed investigation into Oyo State’s finances, particularly the demands contained in its letter of June 2, 2025, was speculative and amounted to a fishing expedition.
His Lordship noted that the constitutional rights of the plaintiffs to fair hearing could not be trampled upon under the guise of investigation’ the governor’s Special Adviser on Media, Sulaimon Olarenwaju, also submitted in a statement he issued in Ibadan on Thursday..
‘An APC chieftain warned me on June 1, 2025, against contesting the 2027 presidential election after President Bola Tinubu was endorsed as sole candidate by the APC.
A day after the warning, the EFCC requested copies of all Oyo State Government contracts and payments to contractors from 2021, without specifically mentioning any contractor, company, transaction or alleged offence’ the newsletter quoted the governor as saying.
Governor Makinde said his administration did not object to the investigation but had however asked the EFCC to specify the contractors or transactions under investigation so that the relevant documents could be provided.
‘The EFCC did not respond, prompting the Oyo State Government to seek judicial interpretation of whether such a broad request was lawful’ he added.
The court, he added, affirmed EFCC’s constitutional power to investigate financial crimes, but however ruled that such powers must be exercised within the Constitution and the rule of law.
Submitting that he will not speculate or make insinuations in respect of the timing of the EFCC’s letter, he however urged Nigerians to consider the sequence of events and draw their own conclusions.
‘Accountability must be evidence-based’ he submitted while describing the court’s decision as ‘a victory for the rule of law, not against the EFCC’.
‘The judgment underscores the need for leadership that respects due process, constitutionalism and the rule of law’ he said.-Team@orientactualmags.com Do you have any information you wish to share with us? Do you want us to cover your event or programme? Kindly send SMS to 08035023079, 08059100286, 09094171980. Thank you
