By SUNTV Global Channel | February 10, 2026
A Magistrate Court sitting in Osogbo, Osun State, has ordered the United Bank for Africa (UBA) to immediately stop releasing or handling local government funds on behalf of individuals identified as members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who are laying claim to being chairmen of local government councils in the state.
The court also reaffirmed an earlier bench warrant issued for the arrest of senior officials of the bank, insisting that the criminal proceedings against them must continue.
Delivering his ruling on Tuesday, Magistrate Adeyeba restrained UBA from “conducting any business transactions with individuals parading themselves as chairmen of local government councils in Osun State,” pending the conclusion of the criminal trial involving the bank and its top executives.
The magistrate held that, in the interest of public accountability and to prevent further alleged abuse of public funds, UBA must not recognise or engage “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 ruling followed a criminal case instituted by the Osun State Government against four senior UBA officials over the alleged illegal operation of bank accounts for the state’s 30 local government councils.
The court recalled that on January 30, 2026, it 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, over their alleged failure to honour court summons.
At Tuesday’s hearing, 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 the lower court to stay further action pending the outcome.
However, counsel to the Osun State Government, Abiodun Badiora, opposed the request, citing Section 301 of the Osun State Administration of Criminal Justice Law, 2025, which expressly prohibits the staying of criminal proceedings.
Badiora further disclosed that an appeal had already been entered with case number CA/AK/17/2026 and duly served on all parties, adding that the Osun State High Court had consequently adjourned the matter indefinitely.
He argued that to prevent the continued commission of alleged offences involving public funds, the court should restrain UBA and its officials from any dealings with individuals claiming to be local government chairmen in the state.
In his ruling, Magistrate Adeyeba agreed with the submission and ordered that UBA must refrain from all transactions relating to Osun State local government funds until the criminal trial is finally determined. He also directed that the criminal proceedings against the bank and its officials should continue, thereby reaffirming the subsisting bench warrant.
SUNTV Global Channel recalls that the Osogbo Chief Magistrate Court had earlier issued a bench warrant against UBA Plc and three of its senior executives following the bank’s failure to appear in court over allegations bordering on the opening and operation of unauthorized accounts for local government funds in Osun State.
The charges, filed under Charge No. MOS/601C/2025, stemmed from complaints by elected local government chairmen, who alleged that statutory allocations meant for the councils were diverted into accounts opened without lawful authorization.
