Edo State governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, has declared that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) will prosecute the recently impeached local government chairmen implicated in the alleged misappropriation of over N95 billion in public funds.
He revealed that the officials were named in the findings of an Administrative Panel of Enquiry, which was mandated to investigate financial activities in local government councils between September 4, 2023, and November 2024.
Speaking in Benin after receiving the panel’s report, Governor Okpebholo pledged to formally petition the EFCC to take immediate action.
He stressed that, beyond the indicted local government chairmen, former Governor Godwin Obaseki and leaders of a faction of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) were also implicated.
He added, “Those responsible will be held accountable.”
However, Obaseki dismissed the allegations, describing them as a politically motivated attempt by Okpebholo to justify what he termed an unconstitutional move against duly elected council chairmen.
Speaking through his aide, Crusoe Osagie, Obaseki said, “Okpebholo has no legal authority to supervise local government operations or initiate investigations against elected officials.”
He called on the people of Edo State and Nigerians at large to disregard what he described as falsehoods propagated by Okpebholo’s administration, asserting, “My tenure was the most transparent in the state’s history.”
