The charges, filed under charge number MOS/601C/2025, followed complaints by chairmen of local governments in the state who alleged that unauthorized accounts were opened for the receipt and management of statutory allocations meant for the 30 local government councils in Osun State.
An Osogbo Chief Magistrate Court has issued a bench warrant against United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc and three of its senior executives over alleged involvement in the opening and operation of unauthorised accounts for local government funds in Osun State.
The bench warrant was issued on Friday, January 30, 2026, following the bank’s failure to appear before the court in a case instituted by the Osun State government through the Office of the Attorney General. The court also adjourned further hearing in the matter to February 10, 2026.
The charges, filed under charge number MOS/601C/2025, followed complaints by chairmen of local governments in the state who alleged that unauthorized accounts were opened for the receipt and management of statutory allocations meant for the 30 local government councils in Osun State.
According to the prosecution, the accounts were allegedly opened and operated at UBA “to allow unauthorized persons to operate and maintain the accounts,” an action the state government said contravenes existing financial and administrative regulations governing local government funds.
Those listed in the charge alongside UBA Plc are the bank’s Group Managing Director, Mr. Oliver Alawuba; Group Legal Adviser, Mr. Billy Odura; and Deputy Managing Director, Mr. Chukwuma Nweke. The defendants are accused of allowing the opening and operation of what the state government described as “illegal accounts” for Osun State local governments.
The case is unfolding against the backdrop of a prolonged local government crisis in Osun State, following a disputed council election conducted at the tail end of the administration of former Governor Gboyega Oyetola. The election was later nullified by the Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo.
The Osun State Government has repeatedly maintained that the chairmen produced by the election, which was conducted under the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration, were sacked by the court and therefore lack legal standing to occupy council offices or exercise control over local government finances.
Reacting to the issuance of the bench warrant, the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Oluomo Kolapo Alimi, said the matter “revolves around the control of local government funds.”
He stated that the Osun State Government’s position remains that the sacked APC chairmen “are not and should not in any way or manner lay claim to the legitimate occupation of all council areas in Osun State,” adding that the continued occupation of the councils by the opposition party was “illegitimate.”
Alimi expressed confidence in the judiciary, saying the government believes the court will “carry out its constitutionally assigned duties and responsibilities without fear or favour” as the case progresses.
The court subsequently fixed February 10, 2026, for further hearing in the matter, as legal proceedings continue over the control and administration of local government funds in the state.
The development marks a significant escalation in the ongoing political and legal dispute surrounding local government administration in Osun State.
On Wednesday, SaharaReporters reported that lawyers representing the All Progressives Congress (APC) failed to appear in court, prompting accusations by the state government that the opposition party is deliberately evading judicial scrutiny to prolong the local government crisis.
The suit, filed by the Osun State chapter of the APC at the Federal High Court in Osogbo, seeks judicial backing for what the party describes as a continuation of the tenure of its local government chairmen. However, when the matter came up for hearing on January 28, 2026, none of the party’s listed lawyers — including three Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) — was present in court.
The court subsequently adjourned the case to March 4, 2026.
Reacting to the development, the Osun State Government described the absence of APC lawyers as an intentional act aimed at frustrating the resolution of the prolonged local government imbroglio.
In a statement issued by the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Oluomo Kolapo Alimi, the government accused the APC of running away from a case it had filed and has been citing as justification for its continued occupation of council secretariats.
Alimi said the party’s conduct confirmed its alleged strategy of delay. He stated, “It is in the public domain that, in order to carry on with their illegality, they claimed they filed a case at the Federal High Court in Osogbo for tenure elongation but today they ran away from the same case.”
He further accused the APC of misrepresenting the nature of the suit, noting that the party had alternated between calling it a request for “tenure elongation” and “tenure determination,” which he described as “clearly bizarre.”
There is a dispute around over N130billion local government funds which the Bola Tinubu's administration has continued to hold on to.