The High Court of Justice sitting in Ibadan, Oyo State, has issued an interim order stopping the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc from releasing statutory funds belonging to the 30 local governments in Osun State.
In the enrolment of order dated September 26, 2025, in Suit No. I/1149/25, filed by the Attorney General of Osun State and the Osun State Local Government Service Commission against UBA, the claimants sought interim protection over local government allocations.
The claimants requested “an Order of Interim Injunction restraining the Defendant/Respondent (UBA) from paying and/or causing to be paid all and/or any of that funds which constitute the statutory Local Government funds of all the 30 Local Governments in Osun State as listed under Osun State in the 1st Schedule, Part 1 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice for an order of interlocutory injunction filed in this case.”
They further asked for “an Order of Interim Injunction of this Honourable Court mandating the Defendant/Respondent not to release all the said funds mentioned in relief one above and/or any part of it to any person however he may be, be it artificial or natural pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice for an order of interlocutory injunction filed in this case.”
The motion ex parte was supported by
an affidavit deposed to by Olufemi Akande Ogundun, identified as a “Nigerian citizen of Osun State secretariat”.
Counsel for the claimants, A. A. Abass Esq, moved the motion on September 26, 2025.
In his ruling, Justice A. L. Akintola stated: “Having carefully considered the motion Ex-parte together with the supporting affidavit and the Exhibits attached on the one hand as well as the written address of counsel and the affidavit of urgency filed along with the motion, this court is satisfied that the claimants/applicants have successfully made out a case for the urgent intervention of this court at this stage as any delay may foist on the claimants/applicants an irreversible harm, injury or situation of helplessness.”
The judge further clarified: “In any event, it is only an interim order that the defendant/respondent will have the opportunity to possibly challenge once the defendant turns up to join issues with the claimants on the motion on notice for an order of interlocutory injunction already filed in this case.
“Accordingly, the interim orders of injunction sought are hereby granted as prayed, on the claimants/applicants’ motion ex parte dated 26th September, 2025 and filed on the same date in this case.”
The matter was adjourned to October 3, 2025, for the hearing of the motion on notice.
The order was issued under the seal of the court and the hand of the presiding judge on September 26, 2025, and certified by the Principal Registrar, B.O. Somide (Mrs.), of the Oyo State High Court of Justice.
In a covering letter conveying the court ruling dated September 26, 2025, lead counsel for the state government, Mr Musibau Adetunbi, SAN, informed the bank of “the development”.
The letter was addressed to the head office of the bank in Lagos as well as its branch in Osogbo, the state capital.
It read, “Kindly find attached a copy of the interim order granted against your bank in the above named suit. Kindly be informed that all relevant processes have been duly served on your bank and your Legal Department has equally been notified of the Order. However, out of abundance of caution, we believe that you are one of the authorities of the Bank that we should notify.
“The essence of this letter is just to remind you of your duty to comply with the above-stated order, so long as it subsists, and which obviously was made pending the hearing of Motion on Notice.”
“Kindly note that the above order covers any statutory payment made to your bank for the benefit of the 30 Local Governments in Osun State,” the letter further read.
The letter went on to list the 30 contentious bank accounts with their details, adding that the order covered all other accounts that may not be expressly listed in the court process.
This development unfolds against the backdrop of mounting controversy surrounding the alleged plans by President Bola Tinubu’s administration to release long-withheld local government allocations in Osun State to the sacked All Progressives Congress (APC) chairmen.
The funds, withheld by the federal government for several months, have become a flashpoint in the ongoing political tussle between the APC-led Tinubu administration and the PDP-led Osun State government.
The Osun State government, alongside the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), has accused the federal government of attempting to divert the allocations to officials who were removed from office following a court ruling that declared their tenure illegal.
