The Osun State House of Assembly has passed the Osun State Local Government Accounts Administration Bill, 2025, a development aimed at tightening financial governance and promoting transparency across the state’s 30 local government areas and area councils.
According to a statement issued in Osogbo on Friday by Olamide Tiamiyu, Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker, the legislation provides a clear framework for the opening, management, and operation of local government accounts. It is anchored on Section 7(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which empowers state legislatures to make laws guiding local government finances.
The Assembly said the bill was crafted to enhance accountability, curb financial mismanagement, and ensure strict adherence to statutory fiscal procedures at the grassroots level.
A key feature of the new legislation is the transfer of signatory authority on local government accounts exclusively to Directors of Finance and Directors of Administration and General Services. This marks a significant shift from previous practices in which political office holders often had extensive influence over local government funds.
The bill explicitly bars elected officials and their appointees from serving as signatories to local government accounts— a move widely perceived as a deliberate step to eliminate political interference in grassroots financial administration.
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Speaking after the passage of the bill, Speaker Adewale Egbedun announced that a clean copy would be forwarded to Governor Ademola Adeleke for assent. He expressed confidence that, once signed into law, the bill would deepen institutional integrity, strengthen financial discipline, and improve service delivery in local government administrations.
Egbedun added that the legislation aligns with the Assembly’s broader commitment to building strong governance structures capable of delivering sustainable development at the grassroots.
The passage of the Local Government Accounts Administration Bill comes on the heels of two other significant pieces of legislation passed by the Assembly on 10th November 2025— the Islamic and Traditional Marriages (Registration) Bill and the Water Users’ Association (Irrigation) Bill. At the time, Tiamiyu described both bills as critical to strengthening social institutions and promoting agricultural development across Osun State.
With the new bill awaiting executive assent, stakeholders are hopeful that it will mark a turning point in the management of public funds at the local government level.
