Members of the Esan West Local Government chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, are at war over the list of commissioner-nominees.
According to reports in a protest letter dated November 21, 2024, addressed to the State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, the petitioners claim that the list submitted to the governor do not reflect the five kingdoms that make up the local government.
They listed the five kingdoms as Ekpoma, Idoa, Ogwa, Ujogba, and Egoro.
They alleged that the nomination was done by Mr. Thomas Okosun, the former Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly and one-time State chairman of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), and Mr. David Imuse, the former state chairman of APC.
The petitioners also alleged that the nomination was done without consulting the leadership of the party in the local government as done in other Local Government Areas in the state.
They also alleged that two of the nominees included a female, simply identified as Mrs Ogbidi, a wife to chairman of the party, while the other nominee, Pastor Odigie is a pastor in Thomas Okosun’s Church.
While noting that the selection of the nominees does not reflect the spread in the Local Government, they opined that it was contrary to the usual practice when one person was being nominated from each of the kingdoms.
