By Simon Ebegbulem

BENIN—Edo State House of Assembly has directed the 18 local government chairmen in the state to hand over to the Head of Service in the councils latest April 21, 2016, as their three-year tenure comes to an end on Friday.

Meanwhile,  there has been intensive lobbying within the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, for caretaker committees that would oversee the councils pending when elections will be conducted in the councils.

Vanguard learned that there were alleged attempts by the council chairmen to persuade the state House of Assembly members to elongate their tenures for another one month. But the attempt hit the wall,  particularly when the governor, Mr Adams Oshiomhole allegedly found that some council chairmen parted with some money to induce the lawmakers.

The matter became worse for some of the chairmen, who, under the guise of inducing the lawmakers,  were alleged to have diverted the funds meant for that purpose to their private pockets.

That led to a protest by some of the staff of the councils, who accused some of the council leadership of allegedly enriching themselves while they failed to pay their workers.