A Chief Magistrate’s Court sitting in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, has ordered the arrest of United Bank for Africa Plc and three of its top executives over allegations of illegally opening and operating bank accounts belonging to the state’s 30 local government councils.
The arrest warrants were issued on Friday by the Chief Magistrate’s Court of Osun State, Osogbo Magisterial District, following the failure of the defendants to appear in court despite being duly served with summons.
The case, marked Charge No: MOS/601c/2025, was filed by the Osun State Government and centres on allegations that the bank allowed unauthorised individuals to operate statutory local government accounts in violation of state laws.
In a certified true copy of the court order titled “Warrant for Arrest of Defendant Who Has Disobeyed Summons,” and addressed to the Osun State Commissioner of Police, the court directed law enforcement to immediately apprehend the defendants and bring them before the court to answer the charges.
The order stated that complaints had been lodged against the defendants for allegedly permitting unauthorised persons to operate and maintain 30 bank accounts opened in the names of the local government councils in Osun State.
The court noted that an oath was taken confirming that the defendants were properly served with the court summons but failed to honour the directive to appear, prompting the issuance of the arrest warrants.
The defendants named in the suit are United Bank for Africa Plc; its Group Managing Director, Mr Oliver Alawuba; the Company Secretary and Group Legal Adviser, Mr Billy Odum; and the Deputy Managing Director, Mr Chukwuma Nweke.
According to court documents, the Osun State Government filed a 31-count charge against the bank and its officials, with each count linked to the alleged unlawful opening, operation, and maintenance of bank accounts for the 30 local government councils in the state.
In Count One of the charge sheet, the prosecution alleged that the defendants, on or about December 9, 2025, and on subsequent dates, conspired to commit a felony by opening and maintaining what it described as illegal local government council accounts.
The alleged acts were said to have taken place at UBA’s Osun State branch located in the Olonkoro area of Osogbo and within the jurisdiction of the Osogbo Magisterial District.
The prosecution stated that the alleged conspiracy is contrary to and punishable under Section 516 of the Criminal Code, Cap 34, Volume 2, Laws of Osun State of Nigeria, 2002.
Further allegations accuse the bank and its executives of allowing private individuals, whose identities were described as unknown, to serve as signatories to the local government accounts.
This was said to be done despite the Local Government Service Commission formally presenting Directors of Administration and General Services, as well as Directors of Finance, as the legally authorised signatories to the councils’ statutory accounts.
The prosecution argued that the actions of the defendants violated Sections 2 and 3(1) and (2) of the Osun State Local Government Accounts Administration Law, 2025, and are punishable under Section 5(1) and (2) of the same law.
Court records indicate that the remaining counts in the charge mirror similar allegations involving all 30 local government councils in the state, raising questions about the scale and coordination of the alleged infractions.
At the last court sitting in December 2025, the presiding Chief Magistrate, Mr A. A. Adeyeba, ordered that the defendants be served through substituted means, including their official email addresses and newspaper publications.
The case was then adjourned to January 30, 2026, for hearing, but the continued absence of the defendants led the court to take the decisive step of issuing arrest warrants.
The matter has now been adjourned to February 10, 2026, for trial, as legal tension continues to build around the high-profile case involving one of Nigeria’s leading financial institutions.
The development has sparked intense public scrutiny and renewed debate over financial accountability, corporate responsibility, and the management of local government funds in Osun State, as the court prepares to hear what could become one of the most controversial banking-related prosecutions in the state’s recent history.
