By SUYI AYODELE, Benin

Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has directed the 18 local government chairmen whose three-year tenure ends on Friday, March 5, to hand over to the Head of Local Government Administration (HOLGA), in their respective councils.

The LGA chairmen were sworn-in on March 5, 2018, for a three-year tenure, following their victory at the local government polls conducted on March 3, 2018. The council bosses have the chance to seek reelection.

Obaseki, in a memo dated March 2, 2021, and titled, ‘Handing over by Local Government Council Chairmen, endorsed by the Permanent Secretary, M.E Jos-Bazuaye, Ministry of Local Government and Community Affairs, directed the elected council officials to vacate office on the said date following the expiration of their tenure.

According to the memo with the reference number: FMLC.170/vol.111/646, also affected by the mandate are the councillors and all political appointees of the 18 council areas of the state.

“I am directed to refer to the above subject and to request that all Local Government Council chairmen are to hand over the administration of the 18 Local Government Councils to the respective HOLGA in their various Local Government latest by Friday the 5th March 2021,” the memo read.

Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress in the state has rejected Governor Obaseki’s delay in appointing commissioners to run the affairs of the state’s ministries, over three months after he was sworn in for a second term in office.

The Caretaker Committee Chairman of the APC in Edo State, Col. David Imuse, Rtd, said that the party would not accept the unwarranted delay by the governor in announcing a cabinet more than three months after assumption of office.

Imuse rejected the excuse given by some Obaseki’s supporters that the governor was busy searching for competent hands and bidding his time to avoid making mistakes, describing such as absurd and an indication that the governor is transmuting from being an elected public servant to a dictator.

APC, in a statement endorsed by the assistant spokesperson of the party, Victor Osehobo, reminded the governor that when he announced the appointment of the Secretary to the State Government on November 16, 2020, he promised to make all other appointments in the first week of February 2021.

The party noted that the governor’s inability to constitute his cabinet had not only crippled government business but demonstrated that he is a man whose word is not his bond.

“Edo state can ill-afford further delay by the governor to make these vital appointments. Section 192 of the Nigerian Constitution, as amended is clear on the issue of State Commissioners, and permanent secretaries cannot do much as they look up to Commissioners, for direction on policy issues. “The section gives the governor a public mandate rather than private, to appoint commissioners to form not just the state’s executive council, but also the think tank for the development of the state’s economy and well-being of the people”, the statement read.

“Right now the day-to-day operations of the different state Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), have come to a halt, while the coordination of important government businesses has become weaker with the unnecessary overload on the Secretary to State Government. Since the governor assumed office in November last year, over 100 days ago, with his disabled state Assembly, using permanent secretaries as acting heads of ministries whose capacities are limited, he has more or less turned a Sole Administrator,” APC submitted.

The party said that the people of the state were disappointed by the governor’s attitude, saying “this is 100 days after his assumption of office, for a second term, meaning he is not a first-timer. The truth is that Edo people are tired of these excuses. He should act fast and in the public interest.” (Nigerian Tribune)

Update news