By Newsmata
As the ruling All Progressives Congress-led government in Edo State continued its operation-take-over-all-Edo local government councils by fair or foul means, two more chairmen and their deputies on Monday lost their positions following their controversial impeachments by their legislative arms.
The affected chairmen are Dr. Kelly Ehidiamen Inedegbor, of Esan North East local government council and his Vice, Thomas Otiobhili, and Tajudeen Alade of Akoko-Edo local government council, and his vice. The duo however insisted that the exercises would not stand as they did not follow due process. Inedegbor alleged that his impeachment took place at 12.30 am when people were asleep.
While Paul Akhere Uhomesili has assumed leadership of Esan North East local government council as acting chairman, Alabi Oshionogue has taken over as the chairman of Akoko-Edo local government council.
Newsmata recalls that the state House of Assembly had December 17, 2024, suspended for two months the 18 local government council chairmen on allegations of gross misconduct and insubordination levelled against them by Governor Monday Okpebholo.
It is also recalled that in the last two weeks, several chairmen had been impeached, while two defected from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) to the APC with assurances to bring in more of their colleagues.
In Uromi, headquarters of Esan North Esan local government, the impeachment was said to be a unanimous decision by the councillors who accused Dr. Inedegbor and his deputy of gross misconduct, abuse of office, and failure to uphold their oaths of office.
Newsmata.com.ng reports that an impeachment notice had been served on them by two councillors, Shedrack Onoghemenosen of Ward 11 and Samuel Udawele Ward 2, addressed to the Leader of the House, Paul Akhere Uhomesili.
The legislative arm accused the duo of misusing their positions for personal gains, eroding public trust, and undermining the integrity of local government institutions. They claimed that following the suspension of the chairman, the legislative arm of the council sat to look at the allegations critically and found the chairman guilty of the offences.
To give the impeachment a semblance of credibility, the leader of the House had also announced the suspension of three councillors, namely, Sunday Ebosele (Ward 3), Smart Eboigbe (Ward 5), and Kingsley Osehon (Ward 10) for undisclosed reasons.
And in Igarra, the headquarters of Akoko-Edo local government area, some councillors reportedly convened at the legislative chamber for plenary where they announced the impeachment of the chairman and his vice and then installed Alabi Oshionogue, erstwhile Leader of the House, as acting chairman, while Tope Jacob from Ward became the new Leader of the legislative arm.
On taking over as acting chairman, Oshionogue said that a committee had been set up to recover all the missing assets of the council. He also dissolved all appointments made by Alade.
A former Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Kabiru Adjoto, who witnessed the exercise, said he was satisfied with the peaceful way the proceedings went.
But reacting to the development, Alade described his impeachment as illegal as it did not follow due process. He also alleged that the action was being sponsored by those who wanted to have access to the council’s treasury.
According to Alade, “The purported act was carried out by a minority of councillors, and it is illegal. Just a few days ago, these same people invaded the secretariat and carted away my personal belongings. Today, I was told they went to repeat the same thing. We are in a democracy and there are laid down rules for impeachment, but they did not follow any of these”.
Also reacting, Okonofua Osemobor, Press Secretary to Dr. Inedegbor of Esan North East, said there was no time his principal was served any impeachment notice.
Osemebor explained that “By law, the constitution stipulates a 14-day notice. In this case, due to their ignorance of the law, they acted contrary. The council chairman was not given any form of fair hearing, nor did he appear before any panel of inquiry set up by the councillors to clear any allegations levelled against him.
“Upon our findings, it was revealed that the illegal impeachment took place at 12:30 am when everyone was asleep, and the Secretariat closed for the day’s activities. How they gained access into the Chambers is part of our call on our security agencies to investigate.
“Upon interaction with the councillors who carried out this travesty of the law they revealed that three of their signatories were forged while four admitted they were coerced by a political leader in the local government whose identity will not be revealed at the moment”.