From Lateef Dada, Osogbo
Osun State House of Assembly has urged the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Minister of Finance to immediately release all outstanding allocations through the lawful Local Government Accounts.
The legislators condemned purported attempts by ‘unauthorised persons’ to approach the Central Bank of Nigeria for transactions relating to Local Government Funds, saying that such an act constitutes a breach of constitutional and statutory financial architecture.
In the resolution adopted after the plenary yesterday, the speaker, 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 the proper implementation of local government financial autonomy.
The assembly posited that local government elections held on October 15, 2022 has been declared by the federal high court as “unconstitutional, null and void,’ and sacked the individuals purportedly elected therein, while the Court of Appeal, Akure Division, on June 13, 2025, dismissed a motion to re-list an appeal arising from the said election, thereby upholding the subsisting high court judgments and affirming that no valid reinstatement occurred.
The legislators condemned the attempt by the Central Bank of Nigeria, Osun State branch, to process or operate local government accounts using certain impostors; that is, individuals parading as chairmen and councillors despite the withdrawal of their Certificates of Return by OSSIEC and the nullification of their elections by competent courts. Such action is 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 also constitutes an attempt to divert public funds, and this House shall take all lawful measures to resist, report and reverse such infractions.
“This 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 Minister of Finance to immediately release all outstanding allocations through the lawful Local Government accounts.
“This House 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 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.