Edo State government has clarified that the suspension of the 18 local government chairmen in the state was in line with the Constitution.
The Special Adviser to Governor Monday Okpebholo on Legal Matters, Barr, Andrew Emwanta, said the 18 local government chairmen suspended disobeyed the state Governor.
He stated this on Wednesday in an interview with New Central. He disclosed that the council chairmen were given a time limit to submit statements of their council account but they refused.
Emwanta explained that Governor Okpebholo’s decision did not go contrary to the Supreme Court’s ruling granting financial autonomy to local governments.
“People keep making reference to his Supreme Court decision that sort of guarantees financial autonomy for local government. What that means is that local government should get their funds directly. That is to say the control provided for under the Constitution by the states over the affairs of local government remains.
“Section 7 of the Constitution is very clear that the State House of Assembly has a duty of making a law for the existence, management and control of local governments. That provision of the law has not been amended.
“So it was pursuant to that particular law, the Edo local government law was made. There was a recent request by the Governor that the chairmen of the 18 local governments should submit their statements of accounts. A time limit was given and unfortunately, they refused to but rather they now said they would resort to court to challenge the authority of the state government to ask for those statements.
“And you can imagine a situation where you have local government chairman, they are busy using local government funds to do certain things that are not in conformity with specific guidelines and financial regulations. So that the suspension of course is backed by law. Section 20 of the local government law is clear that the Governor in consultation of the House of Assembly can suspend any area local government chairman or vice chairman as the case may be,” he said.
Emwanta stressed that former governors Adams Oshiomhole and Godwin Obaseki had during their administrations suspended local council chairmen.
He disclosed that an investigative panel of inquiry was already set by the Governor to look into the accounts of the council areas from September 2023.
The former Commissioner for Communication and Orientation promised that the committee would give the council chairmen fair hearing.
“Remember that this is not the first time, under the regime of Comrade Adams Oshomhole, over five local government chairmen were suspended. Even the recent administration of Obaseki, in 2019 alone four local government chairmen were suspended for two months.
“So you have a clear history of the provision of section 20 being followed and this particular instance is not an exception. The law requires the Governor to set up a panel of inquiry, an administrative panel of inquiry and by virtue of being the Special Advisor to the Governor of Legal matters, I’m a member of that panel of inquiry.
“We were inaugurated yesterday (Tuesday) and we assure those chairmen and all those in the local government administration that will be given fair hearing.
“We want to know how internally generated revenue they generate in their respective councils are spent because these are public funds. I want to know how allocations that come to these local governments have been spent since they came in September last year,” Emwanta stated.