Hon. Eghe Ogbemudia, Chairman of the Egor Local Government Area in Edo State, was impeached following serious accusations of corruption, including the alleged padding of the council’s supplementary budget by N1.7 billion.
The decision was reached by the legislative arm of the local government, which convened under the leadership of House Leader and Councillor representing Ward 3, Godwin Uwadiae Edigin.
The impeachment followed a motion presented by Rt. Hon. Stella Ogida, Councillor for Ward 2. Ogida outlined multiple corruption allegations against Ogbemudia, highlighting the exclusion of councillors from the budgetary process and their lack of official offices even after ten months in office.
“We also uncovered the padding of the council’s supplementary budget to the tune of N1.7 billion. The chairman did not involve the councillors in the preparation and approval of the council’s supplementary budget. After reviewing these actions and many other acts of gross misconduct, I want to pass a vote of no confidence on the chairman,” Ogida stated.
Supporting the motion, Hon. Ambassador Elliot Inneh, Councillor for Ward 9, echoed concerns about the chairman’s conduct. Inneh disclosed that attempts to communicate with Ogbemudia were unsuccessful, further raising suspicion. He revealed that a budget proposal initially approved at N6.054 billion was secretly altered to N7.896 billion by the chairman and the former House Leader.
“Before us today, we have a budget proposal amounting to N6.054bn that was passed through these hallowed chambers. To our greatest surprise, we found out that the Chairman, conniving with the erstwhile Leader of the House, went behind our back and padded the budget to the tune of N7.896bn,” Inneh remarked.
