The Osun State House of Assembly has warned commercial banks operating in the state against granting access to unauthorised signatories to allocations meant for local government areas.
The warning was part of the resolutions adopted by the Assembly at its sitting on Monday.
The Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker, Olamide Tiamiyu, in a statement, said the lawmakers stressed that only duly authorised officers employed by the Local Government Service Commission are permitted to be signatories to local government accounts.
The resolutions said: ‘Any attempt by unauthorised persons to access local government funds is unlawful, unconstitutional, and of no legal effect. That all commercial and other financial institutions operating in Osun State are directed to comply strictly with this resolution, while government agencies are to ensure close monitoring and enforcement; ‘That any violation of this directive will be treated as aiding and abetting financial fraud and will attract full legal consequences under the law; and that this step is taken in the public interest to safeguard the resources of our local governments, ensure accountability, and guarantee that funds meant for grassroots development are protected from abuse or diversion.’
The Osun State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees had on Sunday alleged that the federal government disbursed six months’ allocations due to the state’s local governments into accounts opened by chairmen and councillors elected during the October 15, 2022, local government elections.
CBN, Accountant General deny release of withheld Osun LG funds
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the office of the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF) have denied reports of the release of the withheld Osun State local government funds to the chairmen and councillors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2022.
The two federal government agencies insisted that the claim of the release of the funds to the disputed chairmen and councillors whose tenure would expire on October 22 was at the realms of rumour.
CBN and OAGF made the denial when a lawyer to the Osun State Government, Musibau Adetunbi (SAN), told Justice Emeka Nwite of a Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday that the funds, which are a subject of litigation before his court, had been surprisingly released between Thursday and Friday last week, unlawfully to the APC chairmen, through the UBA.
In their reactions, Murtala Abdulrasheed and Tajudeen Oladoja, both SANs and representing CBN and OAGF respectively, denied that their clients have effected the release of the money to the APC local government chairmen as alleged by the Osun State Government.
Meanwhile, the court has fixed October 16 for ruling on the jurisdiction to hear the suit seeking to stop payment of Osun State local government funds to candidates elected under the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Justice Nwite on Monday adjourned the matter after taking arguments from lawyers.