The legislative arm of Egor Local Government Council of Edo State has impeached the council chairman, Eghe Ogbemudia, and the vice chairman, Frank Osawe.

The legislators also suspended the leader of the legislative arm, Bosede Omokaro, Majority Leader, Iwinosa Enabulele, and Elliot Inneh Enni, the Chief Whip.

The council’s chairman and vice chairman were impeached for alleged gross misconduct, abuse of office, financial misappropriation, unlawful withholding of statutory allowances of a principal member and three other council members as well as budget padding.

The principal officers of the council were allegedly suspended for inability to collaborate effectively with the local government chairmen, particularly in ensuring timely payment of salaries, the two-month delay in councillors’ salaries, failure to provide effective oversight and neglect of responsibilities.

The motion for their impeachment was moved by Nosakhare Isiegbuwa, seconded by Stella Ogida Osagioduwa and signed by four legislators.

The suspension of the former principal officers of the legislative arm was passed by five members, with one member absent.

The House immediately swore in Kelvin Eguakun, the leader of the legislative arm, as the acting chairman of the council.

Moving the motion for the impeachment, Nosakhare Isiegbuwa, at plenary on Friday, December 27, 2024, said the report submitted by the seven-man panel appointed to probe the allegations of gross misconduct against the chairman and vice chairman found the duo guilty of all the allegations.

In a unanimous voice vote, the councillors impeached the chairman and vice chairman.

According to DAILY POST, the impeachment proceedings were formally documented in the Edo State Government Gazette.

The gazetted document notified the affected officials of the initiation of impeachment proceedings in line with the Edo Local Government Bye-law on Pro-Action Notices, Legislative Privileges, and Impeachment Procedures For Elected Council Officials, 2024.

The impeached council chairman, Eghe Ogbemudia, is the daughter of the late General Samuel Ogbemudia, the former military governor of the old Midwest and Bendel states.

He was also a civilian governor of old Bendel State in 1983. He ruled for three months before the government of Alhaji Shehu Shagari was overthrown by the former military government of General Muhammadu Buhari on December 31, 1983

Credit: Daily Post

The Kano State chapter of the All Progressives Congress has described as laughable Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso’s claim that he would significantly reduce the party’s votes in Kano during the 2027 elections.

Kwankwaso, a former governor of Kano State, is the leader of the Kwankwasiyya Movement and the ruling New Nigeria People’s Party in Kano.

In a statement on Thursday, the Kano APC Chairman, Abdullahi Abbas, called on Kwankwaso to stop “daydreaming” and instead focus on reclaiming his membership in the NNPP.

Abbas characterised Kwankwaso as a “political refugee,” accusing him of clinging to Kano State, Governor Abba Yusuf, “like a leech” in a futile bid to regain relevance.

“Our teeming supporters in the APC have no cause to worry about Kwankwaso, who has been booted out of the NNPP due to his cluelessness and self-centredness. We expect Kwankwaso to keep wondering why he has become a wanderer in the political terrain,” Abbas said.

“He ran away from the APC because he couldn’t fit into our progressive ideals. His over-bloated ego and domineering posture forced him to abandon the PDP, and he has now become a political refugee because the NNPP refused to accommodate him.”

Abbas further assured APC supporters that the party would not tolerate a repeat of what he described as “vote manipulation and allocation” during the 2023 elections, which he claimed created a false impression of the NNPP’s strength in Kano.

“The APC is already waiting in the wings to not only reclaim Kano State but also save the people from the undue influence of Kwankwaso, who rules from his Miller Road castle,” he added.

The statement was in reaction to Kwankwaso’s remarks during a recent meeting at his residence in Kano, where he claimed to have received former councillors and senior special advisers from the administration of Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje.

Reflecting on the 2023 elections, Kwankwaso said, “Despite being a new political platform and starting our campaign late, we achieved this remarkable feat.”

He noted that the NNPP’s efforts sidelined the Peoples Democratic Party, which struggled to secure just 15,000 votes in Kano.

“Now, it’s our turn to diminish APC’s influence. We will work tirelessly to ensure their votes are reduced to less than 15,000 in Kano come 2027,” Kwankwaso declared.

A former spokesman and ex-Director-General of the Peter Obi Presidential Campaign Organisation, Dr. Doyin Okupe, has stated that the South, and not the North, should produce the president in 2027.

Speaking in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos, Okupe argued that fairness demands that the South completes its eight-year term, similar to the North before the emergence of President Bola Tinubu.

Okupe acknowledged that although Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the PDP presidential candidate in 2023, is eminently qualified to contest in 2027, geopolitical considerations make it inappropriate for him to assume the presidency at that time.

“Atiku failed in 2023 not because he was not a good person but because people felt that a northern Muslim could not succeed another northern Muslim after eight years,” Okupe said.

“If Atiku contests in 2027, he has the right. He is eminently qualified and one of the best we have, but geopolitics is an issue.

“The conditionality still persists: a southerner would have just completed four years and needs another four-year term.

“It’s not in the constitution, but we agree that when a northerner does his eight years, a southerner will do the same.

“So, the North cannot now terminate the tenure of the South in 2027. It is not going to work.”

Okupe also highlighted that Mr. Peter Obi, the 2023 Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, could vie for the presidency in 2027 as a southerner.

However, he expressed doubt that Obi could unseat Tinubu, noting the incumbent president’s progress in governing the country.

“Obi can contest. Obi is a young man, very dynamic and very ambitious. But geopolitics is important in a country that has not achieved horizontal and vertical unity.

“The person who is occupying the place right now, Tinubu, is also a southerner, who is doing well.

“We can see what this gentleman (Tinubu) is doing. I wish Obi luck, but it is going to be an uphill task,” Okupe said.

Regarding potential alliances of politicians and parties to unseat Tinubu in 2027, Okupe said such coalitions would likely fail due to an inability to make necessary concessions

“I have been in this game for over 40 years. I came into politics in 1978. I have been in several talks and discussions and represented my party and movement in several alliances.

“We have not attained the maturity to be rational, reasonable, and ready to make the necessary concessions for group interest. We are not there yet.

“Even in private businesses, 90 percent of partnerships crumble within the first three years.

“I wish those attempting alliances luck, but it is going to end the same way it always does—futility,” Okupe said.

Reflecting on the alliance that brought ex-President Buhari to power in 2015, Okupe acknowledged Tinubu’s pivotal role, stating that Tinubu made significant concessions to ensure its success.

“The man who spearheaded that alliance had grown beyond naivety and selfishness.

“You set up an alliance, cook food, and invite others to eat. Tinubu conceded everything to make it work,” he said.

Okupe expressed doubt that opposition leaders like Atiku, Peter Obi, and Sen. Rabiu Kwankwaso would demonstrate similar maturity or willingness to concede to one another in 2027.

Speaking about Tinubu’s performance, Okupe commended the president’s clarity of purpose and direction.

“Nigeria is lucky that Tinubu won the 2023 presidential election. He has purpose, zeal, and clarity of mind about where he wants to lead the country.

“It took Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore 31 years to bring Singapore from nowhere to a first-world country.

“It is either we want this country to move forward and be upgraded, or we want to keep playing politics and destroying the lives of our children,” Okupe concluded.