Gov. Obaseki suspends another council boss over alleged corruption saga

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki has suspended the chairman of Esan West Local Government Area, Patrick Aguinede over alleged corrupt practices.
Aguinede is the third LG chair to be suspended in the past three months by the Governor.
The State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Monday Osaigbovo, who confirmed the suspension of Aguinede said he was suspended for a period of two months to allow an investigation into allegations made against him.
In reference to him, one of the allegations was made by an estate agent, who wrote a petitioned that he helped Aguinede to buy a house for N30 million but that Aguinede refused to pay his agency fees.
Osaigbovo also said Aguinede was alleged not to have been remitting the accurate sum of money collected as Internally Generated Revenue.
“The statistics he gave as the number of tricycles and motorcycles operating in Esan West is 3000. If he collected N150 each from them, that amounts to N9m monthly but Aguinede was remitting the only N4.5m.
“The Governor always warned us that anybody caught would not only be sacked but be prosecuted.”
But in a quick response to his suspension, Aguinede said he has accepted it in good faith.
He said the issue of buying a house for N30m has nothing to do with government, as he had been wealthy as far back as 1988. He said he would appear before any panel set up to investigate the allegations.