Edo govt indicts Obaseki, PDP leaders, impeached LG chairmen for N96bn fraud

Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo says the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) will prosecute some of the recently impeached Local Government chairmen indicted for allegedly looting the Local Government treasuries, to the tune of N96 billion.

Okpebholo made this known on Saturday, February 15, 2025, when he received the report of the Administrative Panel of Enquiry set up in December 2024 to investigate the financial dealings of the impeached 18 Local Government chairmen in Edo State from September 4, 2023, to November 2024.

Besides the impeached chairmen who were indicted by the report, former Governor Godwin Obaseki and the leaders of the factional Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), among others, were also fingered.

Expressing satisfaction with the committee for the professionalism with which it carried out its duty, Okpebholo said the days of financial recklessness and lack of transparency in public office were long over, as “Nigerians need to start demanding accountability from elected public office holders”, stressing that “it was the only way to fight corruption and ensure development.”

The governor while expressing dismay at the findings of the report vowed to petition the EFCC on the findings of the report for immediate prosecution

He said: “I want to thank you for a job well done. I carefully listened to the submission of the report. The truth is that the administration of former Governor Godwin Obaseki took Edo people for granted. They took everything belonging to Edo people and channeled it for their personnel gains.

“We thank God for helping us to change the narrative to benefit Edo people. We also thank the President of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, because without his support, we will not be witnessing the kind of development we are experiencing in Edo today.

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“A lot has happened. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) looted the treasury of the Local Governments and stole our collective partrimony, and nobody went after them or took action. This time, things are different. We will go after them and retrieve what they have stolen from Edo people.

“They will be made to pay for it. I will personally take this document to the EFCC and ensure that justice is done for this wrong done to Edo people.”

Speaking, the chairman of the panel, Solomon Imohiosen, noted that findings and forensic investigations uncovered that huge sums amounting to N96 billion was either mismanaged and/or diverted to private accounts.

According to him, the panel observed that N95 billion (N95,080,676,687.86) was received from the Joint Allocation Account Committee (JAAC) by the 18 Local Government Area chairmen for the period investigated.

He, however, said the “funds were not judiciously utilised as no meaningful projects were on the ground to justify the amount received.”

Imohiosen added that the report indicted former ALGON Chairman Oghomwen Newman Ugiagbe, “who used his hotel, Demarriots Hotels Limited, Ahonsi Ogiegbaen Osifo, Eric Agbonmwanre, Abraham Burma and Dickson Imasogie Notiemwenmwan to loot local government funds.”

The Star