By Miracle Ogunde
The 18 elected local government council chairmen in Edo state have been suspended by the State House of Assembly.
The suspension was carried out at plenary on Tuesday following a petition by Governor Monday Okpebholo.
Following this, the House directed leaders of the legislature in the 18 local governments to oversee the running of the councils for the next two months.
It was gathered that the chairmen were suspended for alleged insubordination and gross misconduct.
In the petition by the state governor, he accused the LG chairmen of refusing to submit financial accounts of their local government to the state government.
The governor who described the action of the LG chairmen as insubordination and gross misconduct, requested the House to look into the matter.
The motion for the suspension of the council’s chairmen and their deputies was moved by Mr. Isibor Addeh, an APC member representing Esan North-East I.
It was seconded by Donald Okogbe, PDP, representing Akoko-Edo II.
At the end of the debate, 14 members voted in support of the suspension, six opposed while three members abstained.
Okpebholo had on December 3, 2024, given the LG chairmen 48 hours to submit statements of account of their respective councils to the Assets Verification Committee.
Okpebholo directed the council chairmen to submit the statements to the Assets Verification Committee, through the Office of the Secretary to the State Government, SSG.
He said the statement of accounts should be from September 4, 2023 till date. According to him, the statements would help and enable the Assets Verification Committee to do its job effectively and efficiently.
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