Court bars Osun APC chairmen from accessing LG funds

A Magistrate Court in Osogbo, Osun State, has barred commercial banks from handling or disbursing local government funds on behalf of individuals said to be posing as council chairmen in the state.

The court also upheld an earlier bench warrant issued for the arrest of some of the bank senior executives, directing that the criminal proceedings against them should continue without interruption.

In his ruling on Tuesday, Magistrate Adekanmi Adeyeba ordered the bank to desist from “any business transaction” with persons “parading themselves as chairmen of local government councils in Osun State” pending the determination of the case before the court.

He stressed that, in the public interest and to forestall further alleged misuse of public funds, banks must not recognise or deal with any individual or group for the purpose of operating accounts on behalf of any local government council in the state.

The directive arose from an ongoing criminal case against some senior bank officials accused of facilitating the alleged illegal operation of accounts linked to Osun’s local government allocations.

The court recalled that on January 30, 2026, it had issued bench warrants for the arrest of the bank officials for allegedly failing to honour court summons.

During Tuesday’s sitting, counsel to the defendants, H.B. Williams, informed the court that the officials had approached the High Court to quash the proceedings at the Magistrate Court and requested a stay of proceedings pending the outcome of that application.

However, counsel to the Osun State Government, Abiodun Badiora, objected, citing Section 301 of the Osun State Administration of Criminal Justice Law, 2025, which he said expressly forbids the stay of criminal proceedings.

Badiora further told the court that an appeal, marked CA/AK/17/2026, had already been filed and served on all parties, and that the High Court had adjourned the matter indefinitely.

He argued that to prevent the alleged continued misuse of public funds, the court should restrain banks from further dealings with any individuals claiming to be council chairmen in the state.

In granting the application, Magistrate Adeyeba maintained that the criminal case must proceed and reaffirmed the subsisting arrest warrants earlier issued against the bank’s top officials.

The case centres on allegations that bank officials were involved in opening and operating unauthorised accounts for the receipt and management of statutory allocations meant for Osun’s 30 local government councils.

The charges were filed under suit number MOS/601C/2025 following complaints by local government chairmen who alleged that the accounts were opened without due authorisation.

The matter has been adjourned for further hearing.