Edo: Suspended council chairman challenges appointment of acting chairman

The suspended Oredo Local Government Chairman, Dr Tom Obaseki, has vowed to challenge the appointment of Igbinigie Osaheni as acting chairman, in spite of an order of court, which nullified his suspension.

Obaseki described the move as “superfluous, insidious, and an insult to the fundamental principles of our democracy.”

Obaseki said that he had directed his lawyers to take legal action against the Edo Commissioner for Local Government, Dr Lucky Eseigbe.

The suspended chairman, through his solicitors, Olayiwola Afolabi (SAN) & Co., described the commissioner’s action as insulting to the democratic tenets of the country’s democracy.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the state assembly had suspended the 18 local government chairmen over alleged financial misappropriation and insubordination.

But Obaseki’s solicitors argued that Obaseki remained the local government chairman.

Afolabi cited an existing mandatory injunction of court granted by Justice Ikponwonba on Dec. 16 and Dec.20, 2024, which recognised Obaseki as the substantive chairman of the council.

The solicitors, therefore, demanded that the commissioner retract the appointment of Osaheni in a formal letter within 24 hours, a failure, which would lead to contempt of court.

“We await your retraction and immediate apology, and we advise you to refrain yourself from being used as an instrument of illegality,” he said.

The Obaseki’s solicitors regretted that the commissioner, who is also a lawyer, could be found disrespecting the rule of law.

“You are a lawyer and your loyalty should be first to uphold the highest standard of the legal profession.

“You are required to respect judicial orders and not to be found disrespecting the same contemptuously,” he said.