EDITOR’S PICK
EKO HOT BLOG reports that the councillors of Niger State’s Paikoro Local Government Area’s Chairman, Hon. Yohana Yakubu, have impeached him on grounds of blatant incompetence, abuse of office, a lack of accountability, and truancy, among other things.
On Tuesday, eight of the eleven council members gathered in the council legislative chamber at Paiko, the seat of the Paikoro local government region, and, after signing the impeachment letter, moved to remove the chairman from office.
The Council legislatures immediately directed the the Vice Chairman to take over the affairs of the Council. The three years tenure of the embattled Chairman was expected to end in December this year after court granted the Council Chairmen in the state one year extension in office.
Recalled that in September last year, the embattled chairman was suspended from office by the legislatures for what the leader of the legislative council, Mrs Liyatu Yohana said “his inability to account for millions of naira accruing to the council as Internally generated revenue, his deliberate refusal to make public to the legislatures, the income and expenditures of the Council since Inception to date, among other allegations”.
The suspension was however lifted after the intervention from stakeholders and political leaders in the state, leading to the setting up of revenue TaskForce to ensure proper collection of revenue and accountability but sooner than later, the Chairman hijacked the TaskForce responsibility.
Trouble again started for the Chairman when he was said to abandoned office for over six months now and was administering the Council from his hide-out with only the Council accountant and treasurer having access to him.
According to the leader of the legislative council, the Chairman in the last two and half years, have mismanaged the resources meant for the council including an outright diversion of relief materials to the people of the local government during the COVID 19.
She disclosed that all efforts to make the Chairman respond to the mirage of allegations and complains from both the public and staff of the Council could not yield any results as “he was no where to be found. For six months now he has not step into the office, he administer the Council from a hide-out. Only the accountant and the treasurer know his hide out.
“We served him several letters with a view to resolve some of these allegations but he refused to honor our invitations and when we served him impeachment notice, he could not reply us so we were left with no option than to impeached him”, she said.
The attitude of the Chairman, according to the leader has drew the Council back in terms of development compared to other local government councils in the state with less internally generated revenue, “adding that the decision to remove him was in the best interest of the people and the development of the council.
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However contacted, the embattled Chairman admitted that there was crisis between him and the legislatures but refused to admit if he has been impeached from office.
“Yes there was something like that but I will get back to because I am in a meeting now right now”.
All attempts to reach him again could not yield any result as he refused to pick Calls out across to him.
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