The Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, said he sees nothing wrong with the freezing of accounts ordered by CBN, as the protesters affected just need to explain to a court that their accounts had no wrongdoings.
He disclosed this in an interview with Channels TV on Wednesday.
The Governor explained that he sees nothing wrong with this, as an explanation to the courts will unfreeze a frozen account, if no wrongdoing can be proven.
“Speaking very honestly, I don’t see anything wrong in it,” he 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 have their accounts frozen sometimes. 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.”
He added that the CBN freezes account it may suspect of wrongdoings, and freezing the accounts does not mean they were used for wrongdoings.
“If your account is frozen, you justify why the money was there. You come to explain to what use you have put this money.
“It is just that CBN suspected this account, then the owner of the account will explain…is not a conclusion that those accounts were used for acts of treason.
“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 before the hoodlums took over,’ it will be explained, people will know and the accounts will be de-frozen,” Akeredolu said.
What you should know
Nairametrics reported last week that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) received the nod of the federal high court in Abuja to freeze till January, the accounts of 19 individuals and a public affairs company linked to the #EndSARS protests.
The Central Bank of Nigeria disclosed this week that in order to freeze the accounts of the 20 #EndSARS promoters, they were granted approval by a Federal High Court in Abuja, arguing that the funds in their accounts might have been linked to terrorist activities.
The news is Akeredolu said Endsar protesters whose account were freezes should sue CBN
Gov. Akeredolu, you know much better than what you said. You know that this is not as straight forward in this case, as you have put it considering the underlying factors and motivations for freezing the accounts in the first place. In your capacity as a trusted leader of people, it is highly disappointing that your statement is bereft of sincerity and is totally unrealistic. And this is the bane of our country!
May God punish you people