A Magistrate Court sitting in Osogbo, Osun State, on Tuesday restrained the United Bank for Africa (UBA) from releasing, operating, or transacting on local government funds on behalf of individuals described as members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who claim to be council chairmen in the state.
The court also reaffirmed the subsisting bench warrant earlier issued for the arrest of senior officials of the bank, insisting that the criminal proceedings against them must continue.
Delivering his ruling, Magistrate Adekanmi Adeyeba ordered UBA to refrain from “conducting any business transactions with individuals parading themselves as chairmen of local government councils in the state,” pending the conclusion of the case before the court.
He held that, “in the interest of the public and to prevent further abuse of public funds,” the bank must not recognise “any individual or group of individuals for the purpose of opening, maintaining, or operating bank accounts on behalf of any local government council in Osun State.”
The order followed a criminal case instituted against four senior UBA officials over the alleged illegal operation of accounts linked to Osun State’s local government councils.
The court recalled that on January 30, 2026, it had issued bench warrants for the arrest of UBA’s Group Managing Director, Oliver Alawuba; the Group Legal Adviser, Billy Odura; and the Deputy Managing Director, Chukwuma Nweke, for allegedly failing to honour court summons.
At Tuesday’s proceedings, counsel to the defendants, H.B. Williams, informed the court that the affected officials had approached the High Court seeking to quash the criminal proceedings at the Magistrate Court and urged that proceedings be stayed pending the determination of that application.
However, counsel to the Osun State Government, Abiodun Badiora, opposed the request, arguing that Section 301 of the Osun State Administration of Criminal Justice Law, 2025 expressly prohibits the stay of criminal proceedings.
Badiora further told the court that an appeal had already been entered at the High Court with case number CA/AK/17/2026 and served on all parties, adding that the High Court had adjourned the matter indefinitely.
He submitted that once an order is appealed against in a civil matter, compliance is held in abeyance until the appeal is determined. He therefore urged the court to restrain UBA and its officials from further dealings with anyone claiming to be local government chairmen in Osun State in order to prevent the continued commission of alleged offences involving public funds.
In his ruling, Adeyeba granted the application, restraining UBA from further transactions relating to Osun State local government funds pending the conclusion of the criminal trial. He also directed that the criminal proceedings against the bank and its officials should proceed, thereby reaffirming the earlier bench warrant.
The case stems from allegations that UBA and some of its top officials were involved in the opening and operation of unauthorised accounts for the management of statutory allocations meant for the 30 local government councils in Osun State.
The charges, filed under suit number MOS/601C/2025, followed complaints by local government chairmen who alleged that the accounts were opened without proper authorisation.
The matter was earlier adjourned to February 10, 2026, for further hearing.
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