• Map of Osun State

The Osun State Government has instituted a criminal case against United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) and four of its top officials over alleged illegal opening of local government accounts.

Tribune newspaper reported that the Chief Magistrate Court, sitting in Osogbo, Osun State, has fixed January 30 for the hearing of the case, marked Charge No: MOS/601c/2025.

The defendants in the suit are: the UBA 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.

In the charge sheet, the government filed the 31-count charge against the bank and its officials, with each count relating to alleged infractions involving opening of bank accounts for the state’s 30 local government councils.

In count one, the prosecution alleged that the defendants, on or about December 9, 2025, and on subsequent days, at UBA’S Osun State branch office located in the Olonkoro area of Osogbo, conspired to commit a felony by opening, operating and maintaining what it described as illegal Osun State Local Government Council accounts.

The alleged offence, the charge stated, occurred within the Osogbo Magisterial District and is said to be contrary to and punishable under Section 516 of the Criminal Code, Cap 34, Volume 2, Laws of Osun State of Nigeria, 2002.

They were specifically accused of allowing the opening, operation and maintenance of accounts for each of the local government councils “by unknown private individuals as signatories” after the Local Government Service Commission had introduced to the defendants, Directors of Administration and General Services and Directors of Finance of all the local governments as signatories to the councils’ statutory accounts “and thereby committed an offence contrary to Sections 2 and 3 (1) and (2), and punishable under Section 5(1) and (2) of Osun State Local Government Accounts Administration Law, 2025.”

• Third Mainland Bridge

The Minister of Works Senator Dave Umahi has confirmed that the Federal Government has no plan to toll the rehabilitated Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos.

Umahi affirmed this during inauguration of the N40 billion Closed Circuit Television Camera Centre on the Third Mainland Bridge, the previous day.

He said : “We will not engage construction on this bridge because it will entail static load on the bridge.

“It is also within the town, so it will introduce many bottlenecks; that is why we are not tolling this bridge,” he said.

Umahi said that security would be handled by the police, noting that the 11-kilometre bridge would have a five-minute response time.

The controversy surrounding the tragic death of 21-month-old Nkanu Nnamdi Esege, son of acclaimed Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and her husband Dr. Ivara Esege, has intensified with a pointed rebuttal from the child’s aunt, Dr. Anthea Esege Nwandu.

Dr. Nwandu, a dual board-certified Internal Medicine physician with over 30 years of clinical experience in Nigeria and the United States—including board certifications from the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine, fellowship in the American College of Physicians, and a Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health—has publicly challenged the January 10, 2026, statement issued by Euracare Multispecialist Hospital in Lagos, where the toddler died on January 7 following a brief illness.

The child had been receiving treatment at Atlantis Hospital for what began as a suspected cold but developed into a serious infection. He was described as medically stable and scheduled for evacuation to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore for further care when referred to Euracare for an MRI scan and central line insertion on January 6.

In her detailed rebuttal, Dr. Nwandu directly addressed what she described as significant falsehoods in Euracare’s statement, which expressed condolences while asserting that circulated reports contained inaccuracies, that the child arrived critically ill after treatment at two pediatric centers, and that care adhered to international standards.

Dr. Nwandu countered key claims as follows:

• Euracare’s assertion that the child had received care at two pediatric centers was false; he had been at only one hospital (Atlantis) prior to Euracare.
• On adherence to international standards: She alleged multiple breaches, including failure to provide continuous oxygen therapy during sedation (a requirement for children on oxygen), lack of continuous monitoring of blood oxygen levels, pulse, and respiration, and no resuscitative equipment (such as an Ambu bag) during transfers within the hospital.
• She questioned the accuracy of any documentation regarding the timing or duration of respiratory or cardiac arrest due to absent monitoring.
• Specific practices were criticized as non-standard, including an anesthesiologist carrying the post-sedation child on his shoulder without visual oversight or monitoring, insisting on being alone in the elevator with the child, and disconnecting oxygen during transfer to the ICU.

Dr. Nwandu emphasized that these alleged lapses occurred despite the child’s stability and planned international transfer, describing them as deviations from protocols that could have contributed to the fatal outcome.

Euracare’s January 10 statement expressed “deepest sympathies” for the “profound and unimaginable loss,” denied negligence, noted an ongoing internal investigation, and highlighted collaborative care with external teams. The hospital has described the child as critically ill upon arrival and maintained that all actions followed established protocols.

The case has drawn widespread attention, with Lagos State authorities launching an independent investigation into the circumstances, amid broader scrutiny of medical standards in Nigeria. The Nigerian Society of Anaesthetists is also monitoring developments.

The family, including Adichie, has expressed devastation and called for accountability to prevent future tragedies. Nkanu was one of twin boys born to the couple via surrogacy in 2024. Public figures, including Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, have offered condolences as the matter continues to unfold.