Eghe Ogbemudia impeached as LG chairperson in Edo over ‘budget padding’

Eghe Ogbemudia, chairperson of Egor LGA in Edo, has been impeached over allegations of budget padding.

Eghe is the daughter of the late Samuel Ogbemudia, a former military governor of the Midwest state later renamed Bendel.

The legislative arm of Egor LGA passed a vote of no confidence in the chairperson during a plenary session on Wednesday over the padding of the council’s supplementary budget.

The impeachment sitting was presided over by Godwin Edigin, the leader of the house and councillor, representing Ward 3 of the LGA.

During the sitting, Stella Ogida, councillor representing Ward 2, moved a motion for a no-confidence vote against the chairman over the allegation of gross misconduct.

“This is the 10th month since our inauguration, and we, the councilors of the Egor legislative arm, do not have offices,” she said.

“We have also uncovered the padding of the council’s supplementary budget to the tune of N1.7 billion. The chairman did not involve the councilors in the preparation and approval of the council’s supplementary budget.

“After reviewing this and many other acts of gross misconduct, I want to pass a vote of no confidence on the chairman, Ms. Ogbemudia.”

Seconding the motion, Elliot Inneh, councillor representing Ward 9, said Ogbemudia connived with the former leader of the LGA to pad the budget without seeking the support of members of the council.

“We have tried to reach out to the chairman to no avail. Before us today, we have a budget proposal amounting to N6.054 billion that was passed through this hallowed chamber. To our greatest surprise, we found out that the chairman, in connivance with the erstwhile leader of the house, went behind and allegedly padded the budget to the tune of N7.896 billion,” Inneh said.

Following her impeachment, Frank Osawe, vice-chairman of the council, was directed to take over the affairs of the LGA.