The Osun State House of Assembly has raised the alarm over what it described as the illegal handling and disbursement of billions of naira from local government funds by court-sacked All Progressives Congress (APC) chairmen and councillors in the state. Addressing a world press conference in Osogbo on Sunday, principle officers of the Assembly. led by the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Adewale Egbedun, warned that all illegally handled funds would be recovered and those involved prosecuted. The House vowed that there would be "harsh legal consequences" for individuals and institutions found complicit.
The Assembly accused a first-generation commercial bank and former governor of Osun State, Gboyega Oyetola, of being central to the alleged infractions. It decried reports that billions of naira in local government funds were allegedly paid out under Oyetola’s directive, including N25 million to each of 30 chairmen, N12 million to each of 30 vice chairmen, N10 million to 332 councillors, N130 million to selected traditional rulers, and N13 billion paid as legal fees to Layonu & Co., allegedly calculated as 15 per cent of deposited funds.
Reaffirming the illegality of the continued occupation of council secretariats by tenure-expired officials, the Assembly lamented that “not one naira has been paid in the last 12 months as salaries by these illegal APC chairmen: primary school teachers – zero; nurses and other healthcare workers – zero; local government civil servants – zero; traditional rulers not favoured by Gboyega Oyetola – zero; retirees – zero.”
The House further warned that “even more disturbing are reports before this House that plans are allegedly underway to disburse another Fifty Billion Naira (N50bn) of LG funds for political purposes, disguised as project funds,” stressing that it would not tolerate the diversion of public funds meant for salaries, healthcare, education, and community development.
It also criticised what it described as the “illegal meddlesomeness” of the Minister of Blue Economy, insisting that “Mr Oyetola, a nephew to President Tinubu, has no constitutional, statutory, or moral authority to control Local Government funds, issue instructions on LG finances, influence banks, or direct security agencies in respect of LG administration.” The Assembly added that “being related to the President confers no legal power.”
The House disclosed that it had written repeatedly to banks, including United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA), stressing that under Osun State laws, only career officers appointed by the Local Government Service Commission are lawful signatories to local government accounts, while politicians are expressly barred from that role.
Warning financial institutions, the Assembly declared that “any bank that releases Local Government funds on the instructions of unauthorised persons… acts unlawfully and exposes itself and its officers to criminal liability,” adding that “illegal disbursement of public funds is fraudulent… It is a crime.”
Specifically cautioning UBA, the House stated that all illegal disbursements would be fully recovered and treated as “deliberate complicity in a financial crime,” while funds already released would be deemed a “personal gift” to those who authorised them and must not be deducted from local government accounts.
While commending Governor Ademola Adeleke for sustaining salary payments to local government workers over the past 12 months, the Assembly insisted that such sacrifice must not justify what it called the criminal diversion of funds. Reaffirming its constitutional oversight powers, the House maintained that “the law is the law. No individual is above it. No bank is immune to it. No political interest can override it.”
