Edo State government and the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, weekend engaged in a heated dispute over allegations of corruption within the state government.

The APC had made allegations of widespread corruption against top officials in the government.

But the war of words escalated weekend when the APC called for a thorough investigation into the alleged corrupt practices in the state government.

However, the Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare, dismissed the APC’s claim, describing it as baseless and politically motivated.

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Addressing a press conference at the party’s secretariat in Benin, the acting State Chairman, Jarret Tenebe, said the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, had already invited some top government officials and should ensure they bring the investigation to its conclusion.

According to Tenebe, the much-celebrated paperless operation in government was a ploy by Governor Godwin Obaseki to delete certain critical data from the server in case they lost the forthcoming election.

He said: “The latest plan by Obaseki to make the activities of his administration paperless is a criminal plan that has been designed by one ‘Ugo’ who is in charge of e-governance to destroy all documents relating to fraudulent contracts with the excuse that Edo government has gone paperless.

“Ugo has been allegedly instructed to delete the server containing sensitive documents when the PDP loses the election on September 21, 2024. We hereby warn the governor and the head of e-governance not to delete the approvals of contracts on e-gov.”

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He also queried the N28 billion allegedly spent on a five-star hotel by the state government; the complex, he said, was already 85 per cent completed before the state government took it over from its original owner.

Tenebe also queried the modular refinery in the state which he claimed that Obaseki said was owned by the state government but after its completion, new documents have emerged suggesting that the modular refinery is now owned by an individual.

But Nehikhare dismissed the claims as baseless and politically motivated, noting that the APC and its leadership do not know how government works.

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He said: “It is unfortunate that we still have people heading political parties without an idea of how the government is run and they believe in sensationalism.

“They cannot offer any policy statement or directions for a government they are trying to form instead they are chasing shadows, making allegations that are spurious and frivolous.

“We are not going to dignify them with our response but to tell Edo people to ask this APC leadership for their plans for the state.

“That is all we asked. We need to hear their plans, and how they plan to offer a better state than we have done here in PDP.”

Reactions have trailed the confession of Olalere Oyewumi, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senator, who said he bought votes during the 2023 General Election.

Vote buying was one of the major challenges that confronted the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) during the election.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had even deployed its officials in some polling units.

In a viral video, Oyewunmi, who is the Deputy Minority Senate Leader, narrated how he sent his aide on an errand on the eve of the election with his personal money for vote buying but was rejected by strong supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Speaking in Yoruba, the Minority Leader, who represents Osun West District, said “I tried all the tricks I knew to win at the Onilu House (Ile Onilu) polling unit but these people didn’t allow me.

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“After exhausting money for the election, I gave my personal money to Ten-Ten to give to people at night to buy votes on the eve of the election, Ten-Ten came back with my money, saying the people rejected it. I was surprised.

“That was why I reached out to these people because I cannot be a Senator and continue to fail there. I was the one who called Ayandosu from Abuja to join me in the PDP. I told him he has talent and that the party he was serving then (APC) would not allow him to grow.”

Reacting to the development, the leadership of APC through its chairman, Tajudeen Lawal, said the confession had shown that Osun election was not free and fair.

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In a statement, Lawal said: “The confessional statement of Senator Oyewumi was a confirmation of the fact that the last series of the elections in the state which secured victory for all the PDP candidates including Governor Ademola Adeleke, were brazenly rigged.

“The self-confession of Senator Oyewumi was an indication that he is a desperate politician who could go to any length to illegally corner opportunities regardless of what such portends to the right-thinking members of the society.

“In a civilized clime, Senator Oyewumi has no iota of reason to remain a minute longer in the Senate where he has been the Minority Leader based on his self-confession that he engaged in vote-buying during the election that secured a fraudulent victory for him.

“By now, Senator Oyewumi should be a guest of the statutory law enforcement agency constitutionally saddled with the responsibility of investigating such political crime involving a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

READ ALSO: Why We Can’t Conduct Council Elections Next Year — INEC

On social media, some users called on EFCC to investigate the matter.

Below are other comments:

An Instagram user, @_tomiideeh said: “Our problems are self inflicted… we are the architects of our misfortune.”

@henry_aniegboka_: “One don come out to confess, plenty more go still happen”

@lovefromify: “If only Nigeria was a decent society. Even with this… let’s see if anything can happen.”

@strithustla: “He didn’t only admit it, he said it with his mouth. In a sane country he would have been in jail by now.”

@goodnewsericoisika: “Even after the confession nothing is going to happen the youths who are suppose to act will fight each other to protect the rich / the politician that st0le from them.”

@rosywills: “All of them na same ! We never ready for Nigeria. Total overhauling is the only way. From top to bottom!!!”
@xcel_b_thyname: “The ending part, it’s about their personal growth and not the betterment of Nigeria. The buying of vote is old school, majority of them do it.”

@nagudiae: “EFCC where are you ?”

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has asked political parties and other stakeholders to avert their minds to the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 (As Amended) with respect to the tenure of Area Council Chairmen in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.

According to the commission, the Act guarantees a four-year tenure for the Chairmen and Councillors, not the three years provided in the Electoral Act 2010.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu disclosed this at a meeting with the Inter-Party Advisory Council, IPAC, on Friday in Abuja.

He said the tenure of the current chairmen and councillors would lapse in June 2026.

Yakubu said the Commission had earlier received inquiries from some law firms, an individual, a political party and one FCT chairmanship aspirants’ forum regarding the tenure of the area councils.

He added that there was also a demand for the Commission to release the timetable and schedule of activities for the area council elections.

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Yakubu said their inquiries were based on the provisions of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) which was the subsisting law at the time elections to the area councils were held on Saturday, February 12, 2022.

Vanguard recalls that the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) provides for a three-year tenure for Chairmen and Councillors, a development that had fueled speculations that the tenure of the chairmen expires next year.

Explaining the position of the law, Yakubu said: “Nigerians are aware that the National Assembly has since repealed and re-enacted the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) as the Electoral Act 2022.

“In particular, in the exercise of its powers as the law-making body for the FCT, the National Assembly extended the tenure of the Area Councils from three to four years, thereby aligning it with executive and legislative elections nationwide.

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“This is one of the important provisions of the Electoral Act 2022.

“The Act came into force on Friday 25th February 2022, two weeks after the last Area Council elections in the FCT.

“By the time the elected Chairmen and Councillors were sworn-in four months later on 14th June 2022, they took their oath of allegiance and oath of office on the basis of the new electoral Act (i.e. the Electoral Act 2022) which provides for a four-year tenure. Consequently, their tenure therefore expires in June 2026.

“For the avoidance of doubt, tenure is not defined by the date of election but the date of the Oath of Office for executive elections or the date of inauguration for legislative houses. For the executive, the tenure belongs to the elected individual while for legislators, the tenure belongs to the Legislature.

“A President/Vice President-elect, Governor/Deputy Governor-elect, Senator-elect, Member-elect, Chairman-elect or Councillor-elect cannot exercise the powers of office and draw from the remuneration attached to it until such a person is sworn in or the legislative house is inaugurated.

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“To further illustrate this position, the Commission has since released the Timetable for the 2024 Edo and Ondo State Governorship elections. This does not mean that whoever wins the election in Edo State in September or in Ondo State in November will immediately assume office. This will only take place after the administration of the oath of office upon the expiration of the tenure of the incumbent holders of the offices. Elections are only held earlier in order to a avoid vacuum. That is why the Constitution empowers the Commission to hold elections not earlier than 150 days and not later than 30 days before the end of tenure of incumbent holders of elective offices.

“In the case of the FCT, Section 108(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 under which the current Chairmen and Councillors were sworn-in on 14th June 2022 is clear and therefore unambiguous:

“1. An Area Council shall stand dissolved at the expiration of 4 years commencing from the date –

(a) when the Chairman took the oath of office; or

(b) when the legislative arm of the Council was inaugurated whichever is earlier”.

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“Again, there are several judicial authorities, including the judgement of the Supreme Court, that tenure begins from the date of oath of office and not the date of election.

“The Law Firms that have written INEC on behalf of their clients ought to have drawn their attention to both the law and judicial pronouncements on the matter. You may also wish to note that when the Electoral Act 2022 was signed into law two weeks after the Commission conducted the last Area Council elections in the FCT, the incumbent holders (Chairmen and Councillors) challenged us that we conducted the election too early, claiming that the new Electoral Act extended their tenure from three to four years. We reminded them that they took their oath of office under the old law before the coming into force of the new Electoral Act. Therefore, their tenure will expire in June 2022.

“I wish to reassure you that we are aware of our responsibilities under the law. Section 28(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 requires the Commission to release the Timetable and Schedule of Activities 360 days (i.e. One year) before the date fixed for the election. It cannot be released two years ahead of elections”.

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Yakubu added that the Area Council election in the FCT conducted by INEC remains a model for Local Government elections in the country, noting that there is stability of tenure for Chairmen and Councillors.

“There has never been a caretaker committee in any Area Council in the FCT. Democratic elections are conducted on regular basis. There is plurality of electoral outcomes as no single political party has ever won elections in all the 68 Constituencies (six Area Council Chairmen and 62 Councillors). We will continue to uphold the sanctity of tenure and improve the credibility of these elections.

“May I, therefore, appeal to all persons with ambition to contest for the positions of Chairmen and Councillors in the FCT to be guided by the provisions of the law and judicial pronouncements on the issue of tenure. I also appeal to political parties to enlighten their members accordingly. At the appropriate time, the Commission will release the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the election”, he stated.

Earlier, the National Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council IPAC, Yusuf Mohammed Dantalle, said they were at the Commission to seek clarification on the tenure of the current Chairmen for the six Area Councils as well as the 62 Councillors in the FCT.

He said whether three or four years, the issue had been settled before but that he still deemed it necessary to bring along other stakeholders to the commission to get first-hand information about the tenure of council chairmen in FCT.