From Lateef Dada, Osogbo
The Osun State House of Assembly has urged the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Minister of Finance to immediately release all outstanding local government allocations through the lawful Local Government Accounts.
The legislators condemned purported attempts by ‘unauthorised persons’ to approach the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for transactions relating to local government funds, stating that such acts constitute a breach of constitutional and statutory financial architecture.
In a resolution adopted after the plenary held on Thursday, the Speaker, Hon. Wale Egbedun, threatened that the assembly would enforce its resolutions by legal, legislative, and constitutional means, including litigation, to protect the integrity of local government funds and ensure the proper implementation of local government financial autonomy.
The assembly noted that the local government elections held on Saturday, October 15, 2022, were declared by the Federal High Court as “unconstitutional, null, and void,” and the individuals purportedly elected were sacked. The Court of Appeal, Akure Division, on Friday, June 13, 2025, dismissed a motion to relist an appeal arising from the said election, thereby upholding the subsisting High Court judgements and affirming that no valid reinstatement has occurred.
The legislators resolved that attempts by the CBN (Osun State Branch) to process or operate local government accounts using certain impostors (individuals parading as chairmen and councillors despite the withdrawal of their Certificates of Return by the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC) and the nullification of their elections by competent courts) are a direct affront to the laws of Osun State and the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
“This House further affirms that, by law, only duly appointed career officers, namely, the Director of Finance and the Director of Administration and General Services, are authorised signatories to local government accounts, as stipulated in Section 14.0 of the 2025 Guidelines for the Administration of Local Government Areas in Osun State. The bank confirmation and schedule shall only be valid when endorsed by the Head of Local Government Administration and the Chairman, as further required by law.
“Any attempt to substitute these officers with unauthorised persons is not only unlawful but constitutes an attempt to divert public funds, and this House shall take all lawful measures to resist, report, and reverse such infractions.
“This Honourable House expresses grave concern over the non-release of local government statutory allocations in Osun State and calls on the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Honourable Minister of Finance to immediately release all outstanding allocations through the lawful local government accounts.
“This Honourable House strongly condemns any attempt by unauthorised persons to approach the Central Bank of Nigeria for any transaction relating to local government funds, which constitutes a breach of constitutional and statutory financial architecture.
“This Honourable House pledges to enforce the aforementioned resolutions by legal, legislative, and constitutional means, including litigation, to protect the integrity of local government funds and the proper implementation of local government financial autonomy,” the legislators resolved.
