An Oyo State High Court has restrained the United Bank for Africa (UBA) from releasing funds belonging to the 30 Local Governments of Osun State, pending the determination of a substantive suit before it.
The order, issued on Friday, September 26, 2025, by Justice A.L. Akintola of Court 5, followed an ex-parte application filed by the Attorney-General of Osun State. The bank was listed as the sole defendant in the matter.
The dispute arose after the Federal Government released withheld allocations of the 30 councils into controversial accounts reportedly opened in the names of former All Progressives Congress (APC) local government chairmen and councillors earlier sacked by the courts. The Osun State government challenged the move in suit number 1/1149/25.
Orders sought by the state
In its application, the state government sought interim injunctions restraining UBA from paying out any of the allocations or releasing them to any individual or entity until the substantive motion on notice for interlocutory injunction is heard.
Specifically, the claimant asked the court to:
1. Bar the bank from disbursing the statutory local government funds of the 30 councils listed under Part 1 of the First Schedule to the 1999 Constitution.
2. Mandate the bank to preserve the funds pending the court’s determination of the motion on notice.
Court ruling
After hearing arguments from the claimant’s counsel, A.A. Abass, Justice Akintola ruled that the state had shown sufficient grounds for urgent judicial intervention.
The judge held that releasing the funds at this stage could cause “irreversible harm, injury or a situation of helplessness” to the claimants. He stressed that the interim order was only a temporary measure, giving UBA the opportunity to challenge it during subsequent hearings.
Accordingly, Justice Akintola granted the interim injunctions as prayed and adjourned hearing of the substantive motion on notice to October 3, 2025.
Notice to UBA
In a covering letter dated September 26, 2025, lead counsel to the Osun State government, Mr. Musibau Adetunbi, SAN, formally notified UBA of the order. The letter was addressed to the bank’s head office in Lagos and its Osogbo branch.
“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,” the letter read in part.
Adetunbi further reminded the bank of its “duty to comply with the above-stated order, so long as it subsists,” noting that the injunction covered not only the 30 listed accounts but also any other accounts linked to the statutory allocations of Osun’s local governments.
The restraining order has effectively placed the disputed funds under judicial seal until the court reconvenes in October.
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