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From Tony Osauzo, Benin
The Edo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday, called on the House of Assembly to immediately recall suspended chairmen and vice chairmen of local government councils so that governance at the grassroots level could resume peacefully.
Alleging a breach of Section 7 (1) of the country’s Constitution as it affects Edo local governments by the governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, Chairman of the State Caretaker Committee of the PDP, Dr. Tony Aziegbemi, said the state currently lacks democratically elected local government councils, noting that nothing was happening in the councils, and any of the council chairmen who attempted to work was attacked and humiliated by thugs.
The PDP chairman, while commending the Attorney General of the Federation for standing on the part of the law, also urged him to move beyond mere pronouncements and institute contempt proceedings against the Attorney General of Edo State for disregarding the Supreme Court ruling, adding that the Edo case was a precedent that would derail the efforts and fights of President Bola Tinubu in ensuring autonomy for the local councils.
“Since there is no properly constituted local government administration in Edo State currently, we urge the Attorney General to immediately halt all allocations to the state government through the Joint Account Allocation Committee (JAAC) as stipulated in the Supreme Court ruling,” Aziegbemi said.
He also alleged that since the illegal suspension of the duly elected chairmen, over N30 billion has been sent to local government councils under the control of the state government, which Governor Okpebholo shared among his party leaders.
“There is currently no approved budget in any local council in the state but they have continued to spend money illegally. They don’t follow due process in the execution of contracts, purchase of transformers and organisation of events.
“Since this three months period, the Okpebholo government has unilaterally stopped salaries to the duly democratically elected chairmen, vice chairmen, Secretaries, supervisory councillors, special advisers and special assistants. This is while there’s a nepotistic and selective payment of salaries to elected loyal councillors across the 18 local councils of the state
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“There is no approval for imprest and grants from legislators at EXCOs. Revenues collected are not accounted for and are being diverted. This is clear executive rascality and impunity taken too far.”
Aziegbemi warned some new generation commercial banks to be careful against opening illegal accounts with forged signatures of democratically elected chairmen.
Dr. Aziegbemi stated that the high insecurity in the state could be traced to the non-functioning local government councils in the state, saying that the councils were responsible for paying stipends of vigilante members recruited to check crimes through regular bush combing across the state.
Reacting to Governor Okpebholo’s alleged breach of Section 7 (1) of the Constitution, Commissioner for Information and Communication, Paul Ohonbamu, said the judgment of the Supreme Court on local governments’ autonomy did not obliterate Edo State Local Government Law 2000 as amended.
He explained that the governor did not suspend the local government chairmen and vice chairmen but only reported to the State House of Assembly, which found merit in the governor’s report and suspended them in accordance with the provisions of the local government law.
Commenting on the impeachment of the council chairmen, which the PDP described as illegal and null and void for not following due process, Ohonbamu stated that the chairmen were impeached by their own councillors.
He said contrary to the PDP’s claim, council staff across the state were being paid their salaries, just as he debunked the party’s claim of Governor Okpebholo sharing N30 billion councils’ allocations to members of his party, saying “they are merely throwing figures to make their narrative interesting.”
