Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu has supported the decision by the federal government to freeze bank accounts of some people who participated in the #EndSARS protests.
According to him, the government has operated within the provisions of the law and the affected persons have to appear in court to present facts why their accounts should not be frozen.
It will be recalled that the request of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to freeze accounts of 19 Nigerians and companies linked to the End SARS protests has been granted by a Federal High Court in Abuja presided by Justice Ahmed Mohammed.
The court order has also been dispatched to their banks ordering them to freeze the identified accounts for an initial period of 180 days pending the outcome of the investigation and inquiry currently being conducted by the CBN.
Speaking on the development on Wednesday when he appeared as a guest on Channels TV Sunrise Daily, Akeredolu submitted that the freezing of accounts is not a final decision as the matter is still in court, but the government action so far is not out of place.
“Speaking very honestly, I don’t see anything wrong in it,” the governor, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) said.
“If for instance, my account was frozen, what would I do? All I would do is go back to court to explain. Even politicians, their accounts are sometimes frozen. You have to go to court and explain. And at the end of the day, the court will say, ‘Leave the account. The account should be de-frozen’ and you take your money back.”
“If your account is frozen, you justify why the money was there. You come to explain to what use you have put this money,” Akeredolu, who in October defeated Eyitayo Jegede to win a second term in office, explained.
“If it is that ‘Okay, we used this money to pay this caterer to give food to these boys when they were there. We spent money between before the hoodlums took over,’ it will be explained, people will know and the accounts will be de-frozen,” he added.
Meanwhile, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has said he should be counted out of any plans to introduce laws against social media in Nigeria.
