Edo Assembly directs council chairmen to handover April 21

Edo Assembly directs council chairmen to handover April 21

The Edo House of Assembly on Monday directed 17 council chairmen in the state to hand over the affairs of their councils to their respective heads of Local Government administration, latest Thursday.

It will be recalled that tenure of the chairmen ends on Thursday, with the exception of that of chairman of Esan North East Local Government, who has been exempted from the order.

A re-run election was held recently in the local government areas.

The directive was sequel to a motion moved by Mr Sunday Osazemwinde, (APC Ovia North East 1) constituency and seconded by Mrs Ativie Elizabeth, member representing (APC Uhunwode) constituency.

Osazemwinde said section 10(1) and 18 (1) of the local government law 2000 allows tenure of three years in office for the council chairmen in the state.

According to him, the present chairmen were elected on April 20, 2013, as such their tenure would end on April 21, 2016.

“The State Independent Electoral Commission (EDSIEC) is supposed to have conducted election within 90 days before the end of the tenure of the incumbent chairmen,” he said.

He observed that there was no plan to conduct council polls, hence the need for the incumbent chairmen to handover to their heads of Local Government Administration.

The lawmakers unanimously adopted the resolution.

The speaker, Victor Edoror, thereafter, directed the chairmen of 17 local government councils to hand over to the Heads of local government administration on or before April 21.