Less than 24 hours after Governor Ademola Adeleke alleged that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was planning to freeze the state government account domiciled with First Bank, the anti-graft agency has reportedly freezed the account, according to Vanguard.

The account, reportedly used for the payment of workers’ salaries, was placed on “Post No Debit” status by the anti-graft agency.

The development came hours after Governor Ademola Adeleke raised the alarm that the EFCC was planning to freeze the state government’s accounts and those of top government officials ahead of the August 15 governorship election.

In a statement issued earlier on Wednesday by the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, Adeleke described the alleged move as an attempt to cripple government activities before the poll.

The governor had insisted that there was no legal basis for freezing the accounts of a state government, arguing that the EFCC lacked the statutory powers to take such action.

However, a source reportedly told Vanguard that the account had already been restricted.

“I can confirm that the state government account has been frozen by the EFCC. It is no longer an allegation. The governor will address the press shortly to update the public on the situation,” the source reportedly told Vanguard.

The reason for the restriction was not immediately known as of the time of filing this report.

The EFCC had yet to issue an official statement on the development.

The development comes as Osun prepares for its August 15 governorship election, with the account restriction expected to generate political reactions ahead of the poll.

Meanwhile, the state’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Oluwole Jimi-Bada, had said he has the mandate of the governor to sue the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for freezing the government accounts.

Jimi-Bada said a ‘Post no debit’ letter from the EFCC was forwarded to the management of the First Bank where Osun government accounts were domiciled on Wednesday.

The commissioner, who expressed readiness to proceed to court, said the move by the anti-graft agency may hamper government’s business, noted that Governor Ademola Adeleke was not using state funds to run its campaign for reelection.

“I have the mandate of the governor to proceed to the Federal High Court to challenge this move. EFCC can investigate the accounts but it can’t freeze the accounts without order of court.

The West African Examinations Council says it is withholding the results of 167,486 candidates, representing 8.59 per cent of those who sat the 2026 Computer-Based West African Senior School Certificate Examination for School candidates, over alleged examination malpractice.

This was disclosed by the Head of WAEC Nigeria National Office, Dr Amos Dangut, who announced the release of the results in Lagos on Wednesday.

The number of withheld reults, however, represents a decline from the 9.7 per cent recorded in 2025.

Dangut said the council withheld the affected results due to various infractions, including the increasing use of mobile phones in examination halls despite the existing ban and organised cheating in some schools.

“The increasing use of cell phones in the examination hall, in spite of the existing ban, and organised cheating in some schools, are other nagging issues,” Dangut said.

He added that some supervisors and invigilators found assisting candidates in malpractice had been arrested and would face disciplinary action through the relevant state ministries of education.

A total of 1,959,668 candidates from 24,207 schools registered for the examination across Nigeria, Benin Republic, Côte d’Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea, while 1,950,726 candidates eventually sat for the examination.

1,200,514 candidates (61.54 per cent) obtained credits and above in at least five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.

1,687,378 candidates (86.50 per cent) secured credits and above in a minimum of five subjects, with or without English Language and Mathematics.

The number of candidates who obtained credits in five subjects including English and Mathematics dropped by 1.42 percentage points compared with the 2025 examination.

Of the 1.2 million candidates who achieved credits in English and Mathematics:

558,883 (28.65 per cent) were male.

641,631 (32.89 per cent) were female.

Overall, 997,267 females (51.12 per cent) and 953,459 males (48.88 per cent) participated in the examination.

WAEC said 1,834,695 candidates, representing 94.05 per cent, had their results fully processed and released, while the results of 116,031 candidates (5.95 per cent) were still being processed.

The council also disclosed that 1,213 candidates with special needs participated in the examination. They included:

137 visually impaired candidates;

491 candidates with hearing impairment;

55 spastic and mentally challenged candidates; and

41 physically challenged candidates.

The 2026 examination marked the second edition of the Computer-Based WASSCE for School Candidates, following the introduction of the format by WAEC.

Dangut said the council introduced several innovations, including the Digital Examiner Mark System to improve the speed of processing results, serialisation of question papers to curb malpractice, and a new portal that allows candidates to generate e-PINs directly for checking their results.

The examination was conducted between April 24 and June 19, 2026, with 102,708 examiners involved in marking across 88 marking venues.

Dangut, who described the briefing as his third and final engagement as WAEC Nigeria National Office head, said candidates sponsored by states indebted to the council would not have their results released until the outstanding payments were cleared.

Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun state has alleged that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is working to freeze all bank accounts belonging to the state government ahead of the August 15 governorship election.

Kolapo Alimi, the state commissioner for information and public enlightenment, in a statement on Wednesday, said the governor raised the alarm on Tuesday at the Government House in Osogbo.

Alimi alleged that the anti-graft agency also plans to extend the freeze to the accounts of top government functionaries.

According to the statement, the governor said such a move, if true, would amount to “the height of lawlessness”, noting that “the plot to freeze the state government accounts is meant to paralyse government activities ahead of the governorship election”.

“The governor affirmed that there is no legal basis or justification for any move to freeze the state government accounts, declaring that the anti-graft agency has no legal powers to freeze the account of a state government,” the statement added.

In recent weeks, Osun state has witnessed renewed political violence, with members of both camps engaged in clashes as they seek to consolidate early gains ahead of the poll.

Speaking on Monday at a campaign rally in Olorunda LGA, Adeleke, who is seeking re-election on the Accord party platform, asked President Bola Tinubu to intervene in the pre-election violence rocking the state, warning against a repeat of the 1983 political crisis in the south-west.

He argued that the recent endorsement of Tinubu’s re-election bid by Accord in Osun should earn the state some reprieve from the president.

According to the governor, the president’s intervention is needed to halt the “loss of innocent lives” in the state, noting that “all we are asking for is simply a free and fair election”.