In what insiders are calling a “quiet purge” cloaked in reform, the Edo State House of Assembly Service Commission has taken its first real swing at restoring integrity and correcting years of politically motivated rot.
At its inaugural plenary session chaired by Hon. (Sir) Ezehi MD Igbas on May 15 in Benin City, the Commission didn’t waste time with rhetoric. Instead, it dug into a backlog of staff injustices, suspicious promotions, and damning financial irregularities, the kind that could implicate top officials of the previous administration.
Two former Assembly clerks, Mr. J. Ohiokhuobo and Mr. S. Haruna, had been dismissed under the pretext of absenteeism. But the Commission’s investigation, led by Hon. Rev. Andrew Uwadia, unearthed a more sinister truth: their only “offense” was supervising the swearing-in of the G14 legislators, a political landmine in its time.
The Commission declared the dismissals unlawful, ordering their full reinstatement, promotion, and salary arrears. Similar redress followed for Mrs. Ego Aguinede and Mrs. Marian Edoror, both swept aside in what now appears to have been a systematic purge of politically inconvenient staff.
But perhaps the most explosive revelation came in the form of a committee report on Bar. Osahon Newton Ahunwan, former secretary to the Commission. The findings read like an audit horror story:
₦18 million claimed for “sewage disposal”, with zero evidence of trucks, service logs, or payment trails.
₦25.005 million in audit certificates missing, only two out of fifteen could be traced.
Multiple contracts awarded to ghost companies, none registered with the Edo State Public Procurement Agency.
The Commission, now under Igbas’ watch, ordered Newton to refund 10% of the questionable ₦18 million immediately, a symbolic slap that raises deeper questions: Where’s the rest of the money? Who signed off on the rest of the rot?
One staffer, Mr. Bello Saheed, found himself caught between a double promotion and a dead-end file. Another, Mr. Ebegue Igho-Osagie, presented two appointment letters, both dated the same year. One was nullified, his proper status reinstated. These are not isolated bureaucratic errors; they point to a systemic failure in records and HR management.
In a rare win for labor justice, three PASAN unionists, previously sacked for their activism, were reinstated with full pay, damages, and promotions. Their victory, cemented by a court ruling, sends a message: union-busting is not only illegal, it’s now costly.
In closing, Hon. Igbas signaled a sharp turn in administrative culture. “This Commission will protect the diligent, but those who flout rules will be shown the way out,” he declared. Already, chronic absentee staff have been placed under a strict sign-in/sign-out regime and face further discipline.
This isn’t just an HR cleanup. It’s the early tremor of what could be a deeper anti-corruption drive in Edo’s legislative bureaucracy. As records are unearthed and grievances corrected, the next big question looms: Will the Commission go all the way, or is this reform just scratching the surface of a much larger iceberg?