Obaseki sacks Edo LG boss over alleged fraud – TheNigerialawyer

The Edo State Governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki, has sworn-in Alhaji
Imonofi Osumah as the Chairman of Etsako West Local Government,
after Yakubu Musa, the erstwhile chairman was removed for an
alleged involvement in a N46m fraud.

Obaseki, while swearing Osumah in at the Government House in
Benin City, said investigations by a panel constituted by the state
government revealed that the former LG boss engaged in fraudulent
activities.

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Adams
Oshiomhole, hails from the Etsako West LGA.

Obaseki maintained that his administration had zero-tolerance
for corruption and negligence of duty, noting that the local
government managers must perform their duties.

“With the permission and authorisation of the Edo State House of
Assembly, we dropped Yakubu Musa for engaging in corrupt
activities. He was dropped based on the investigations conducted
following reports and observations at the monthly Joint Account
Allocation Committee meetings I presided over.

“Local councils in urban areas have common traits. They are
heavily indebted, have huge salary arrears and the level of
accountability is very poor. I charge you to ensure you do better
and guard against corrupt acts. We have zero-tolerance for
corruption,” he said.

The new chairman, Osumah, thanked the governor for the
opportunity to serve and pledged loyalty and commitment to work
with the governor in developing the council area.

Recall that a panel of inquiry was on September 16, 2019,
constituted by the Edo State Government to investigate the alleged
diversion of funds in Etsako West LGA, after the case was
discovered at the JAAC meeting.

The panel’s findings revealed that over N46m was paid to two
ghost workers by a staff member employed by the erstwhile
chairman.

The panel, however, recommended that Musa be “removed from
office on the grounds of negligence of duty, improper accounting
and auditing of the council’s finances, lack of adequate
supervision of staff and for allowing fraud under his nose.”