EFCC Says 18 States Under Investigation Over Public Funds

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has confirmed that approximately 18 state governments across Nigeria are currently under active investigation over allegations of public funds mismanagement, in a disclosure that significantly widened the scope of what began as a debate over the Osun State account freeze. 

The EFCC investigates 18 states public funds revelation was made by the commission’s Director of Public Affairs, Wilson Uwujaren, during a live interview on Arise Television on Thursday, where he defended the Osun State restriction while confirming that similar actions had been taken or were being prepared against multiple other governments.

Uwujaren declined to name the states under investigation, insisting the decision was strictly to protect the integrity of the ongoing probes rather than to shield any government from scrutiny. 

He cited the commission’s earlier intervention in Edo State as a direct precedent for its Osun action, disclosing that the EFCC had placed a similar restriction on an Edo State Government account before the emergence of Governor Monday Okpebholo when it detected suspicious fund movements — and that the intervention preserved twelve billion dollars for the incoming administration to inherit. 

The Osun State investigation, he stressed, was not a reaction to the upcoming governorship election but a continuation of a probe that had been running since March 2026, during which several state officials, including the Accountant General, had already been questioned by investigators.

On the legal framework underpinning the EFCC investigates 18 states public funds stance, Uwujaren cited Section 34 of the EFCC Act and Section 7, Subsection 6 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2022 as the statutory basis for placing temporary restrictions on any account where suspicious activity is detected — powers he clarified extended to any account holder and were not limited to state governments. 

He also explained that the commission operates within a 72-hour window from the point of account restriction, during which it must either obtain a court order to sustain the freeze or lift it entirely. 

At the time of the interview, that window had not yet elapsed. 

Regarding the Osun State government’s intention to approach the court independently before the commission could act, Uwujaren said the state was within its rights and that the EFCC would respond accordingly.

The confirmation that the EFCC investigates 18 states public funds across double-digit jurisdictions simultaneously represents one of the most expansive disclosures the commission has made about its surveillance of state government finances, and comes at a politically sensitive moment ahead of several scheduled governorship elections. 

Uwujaren maintained that the interventions were guided purely by law and intelligence available to the commission, and were not targeted at any particular administration or political affiliation. 

For governors across Nigeria and for state finance officials now aware they may be on the commission’s radar, the Thursday interview sent a message that was measured in tone but unmistakably broad in implication — the EFCC is watching, and Osun is not the end of the story.