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The chairmen of Esan North East, Kelly Inedegbor, and his vice-chairman, Thomas Otiobhili, along with Tajudeen Alade, the chairman of Akoko-Edo Local Government Area, and his vice, have been impeached.
In Uromi, the headquarters of Esan East, the impeachment was said to have been unanimously agreed upon by the councillors, based on allegations of gross misconduct, abuse of office, and failure to uphold their oath of office.
The impeachment followed an impeachment notice by two councillors, Shedrack Onoghemenosen of Ward 11 and Samuel Udawele of Ward 2, addressed to the Leader of the House, Paul Uhumesi.
The legislative arm of the council accused the duo of misusing their positions for personal gain, eroding public trust, and undermining the integrity of local government institutions. This action follows growing dissatisfaction among council members and the community over the leadership of the suspended officials.
To make the impeachment credible, the Leader of the House, Ubomesisl, also announced the suspension of three councillors—Sunday Ebosele (Ward 3), Smart Eboigbe (Ward 5), and Kingsley Osehon (Ward 10)—for undisclosed reasons.
Reports from Igarra, headquarters of the Akoko-Edo Local Government Area, indicated that some councillors stormed the legislative chamber, where they held a plenary session and announced the impeachment of the chairman and his vice. They then moved to take over the office of the chairman with an acting chairman, Alabi Oshionogue, who was the Leader of the legislative arm and was later replaced by Tope Jacob as the new Leader of the House.
After taking over the office of the chairman, Oshionogue stated that a committee had been set up to recover all the missing assets of the council and also dissolved all appointments made by Hon. Alade.
A former Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Kabiru Adjoto, who witnessed the development, said he was satisfied with the peaceful way the proceedings went.
When contacted, the chairmen said their impeachment could not stand, as due process had not been followed.
Reacting, Alade stated that the purported suspension was illegal and did not follow due process, and he claimed the action was sponsored by those seeking access to the council’s treasury.
He said, “The purported act was carried out by a minority of councillors and 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.”
A statement from Inedegbor’s Press Secretary, Okonofua Osemobor, stated that Inedegbor was never served any impeachment notice.
“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 had closed for the day’s activities. How they gained access to 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, it was 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.”
