The immediate former governor of the state, Godwin Obaseki, has allegedly been charged by the administrative panel of inquiry, which was established by Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo to look into the financial records of the 18 local government chairmen who were impeached in the state between September 4, 2023, and November, 2024.CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
The chief press secretary to the governor, Fred Itua, purportedly implicated several local government chairmen and PDP leaders in a statement made accessible to reporters on Sunday.
In submitting the report to Governor Monday Okpebholo, the panel’s chairman, Solomon Imohiosen, claimed that the 18 Local Government Area Chairmen had been charged with mismanaging and/or transferring to private accounts N95,080,676,687.86 that they had received from the Joint Allocation Account Committee, or JAAC, for the period under review.
Among those named by Imohiosen were Newman Ugiagbe, the state chairman of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) and the troubled chairman of Orhionmwon Local Government. Dickson Imasogie Notiemwenmwan, Abraham Burma, Eric Agbonmwanre, and Ahonsi Ogiegbaen Osifo are the others. He said that the chairman of ALGON conspired with others to embezzle monies from the local government by using his hotel, the Demarriots Hotels Limited.
He added that the N96 billion was either mismanaged or transferred to private accounts, according to the results of forensic examinations and conclusions. According to him, the panel noted that during the inquiry period, the 18 Local Government Area Chairmen collected N95,080,676,687.86 from the Joint Allocation Account Committee, or JAAC. However, because there were no worthwhile initiatives underway to support the amount received, the money were not used wisely.
“A case of fraudulent diversion of Local Government monies to political godfathers in the state was found by the panel. More than N10,433 658,452.00 billion was found to have been fraudulently stolen under the fictitious name “Security, Environment and Training.”As money was moved from the account to different people and businesses, the 18 Local Government Area Chairmen donated the sum and used the account as a conduit pipe to drain government resources.
Significant anomalies in the 18 Local Government Councils’ financial operations were found during the panel’s examination. The report’s proposals are meant to tackle these problems and encourage accountability and openness in the financial operations of local governments. “The report accused former ALGON chairman Oghomwen Newman Ugiagbe of embezzling funds from the Local Government through his hotel, Demarriots Hotels Limited, Ahonsi Ogiegbaen Osifo, Eric Agbonmwanre, Abraham Burma, and Dickson Imasogie Notiemwenmwan,” he claimed.
However, Imohiosen pointed out that the panel encountered a number of difficulties throughout the assignment, such as incomplete and delayed financial record submission from several Local Government Councils. He also mentioned the purposeful obstruction of the probe by Council staff who did not cooperate on time but later brought heavy sacks to impress panel members.
Governor Okpebholo promised in his statements following the committee’s report that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, or EFCC, would bring charges against those accused of embezzling more than N95 billion from the treasuries of local governments. Okpebholo promised to pursue those charged in order to recover the items they had taken from the people of Edo State. He stated that he would personally petition the EFCC over the report’s findings for immediate prosecution.
“I would want to express my gratitude for a job well done. I listened intently as the report was submitted. The Edo people were actually taken for granted by the previous governor Godwin Obaseki’s government. They appropriated all that belonged to the Edo people and used it for their own benefit. “We give thanks to God for enabling us to rewrite history in the Edo people’s favor. We also thank Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the President of Nigeria, for his assistance, without which Edo would not be experiencing the current level of progress.
Numerous things have occurred. Nothing was done to stop the Peoples Democratic Party from stealing our communal patrimony and plundering the local governments’ treasuries. The situation is different this time. We shall pursue them and recover the items that the Edo people have stolen.The cost will be borne by them. To guarantee that justice is served for this evil done to the Edo people, I shall personally deliver this paper to the EFCC.
Leaders of the polarized Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), former governor Godwin Obaseki, and other others were implicated in the study along with the impeached Local Government Chairmen. Nigerians must begin holding elected public office holders accountable, as the days of financial irresponsibility and opaqueness in public office are long gone. “This is the only way to ensure development and combat corruption,” he stated. The Administrative Panel of Enquiry was established by Governor Okpebholo on December 18, 2024, to look into the financial activities of the 18 Edo State local government chairmen who had been impeached.CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
