The Osun State High Court has refuted a viral social media report claiming that a magistrate in Ilesa ordered a woman to pay her boyfriend ₦150,000 for failing to visit him after collecting ₦3,000 as transport fare.

In a statement issued by the Chief Registrar, F.I. Omisade, the judiciary clarified that there is no magistrate by the name “Akogun Oludare” within the Osun State Judiciary. Furthermore, no such ruling was ever issued by any magistrate in the state.
The court described the report as “misleading and untrue” and urged the public to disregard it entirely.

“The general public is enjoined to disregard this news and throw it into the trash can where it rightly belongs,” the statement read.

Similarly, the NBA Ilesa Branch, in a separate statement issued by Chairman, Raymond Oki Esq., the association categorically dismissed the claim as “completely unfounded” and stated that no Magistrate by the name Akogun Oludare exists in Ilesa or anywhere in Osun State. The NBA expressed concerns over the spread of misinformation and urged the media to verify facts before publication.

However, lawyers have seized the moment to call for systemic improvements in the judiciary by establishing a functional database where legal professionals and media practitioners can easily verify court rulings and judgments. They criticized the current approach of issuing defensive statements instead of proactively addressing misinformation through accessible digital records.

Legal professionals urged the Osun Judiciary to take a cue from Lagos State, which is currently digitizing its judicial processes to enhance transparency and accessibility. Additionally, they called on local NBA branches to champion such reforms instead of focusing solely on collecting branch dues and sharing practice fees.