By SaharaReporters
The Chairman of Ughelli North Local Government Area in Delta State, Hon. Jaro Egbo, has come under fire following explosive allegations of corruption and political vendetta made by the sacked chairman of the Ughelli Motor Parks Revenue Committee, Gowon Egoide.
Egoide, in an exclusive interview with SaharaReporters, accused Egbo of collecting monthly kickbacks of N400,000 and claimed to have sent a N1.2 million bribe to Egbo’s wife, Mrs. Vivian Egbo, under duress.
This comes in the wake of Egbo’s controversial dissolution of the Ughelli Motor Parks Revenue Committee and the Non-Market Revenue Committee, citing alleged financial mismanagement and failure to maintain transparent records. The announcement, made last Friday via a statement signed by the Secretary to the Local Government, Goodluck Unuavworho, ordered all affected officials to return official documents and financial records to the council.
But Egoide, who headed one of the disbanded committees, dismissed the allegations, describing the action as a politically motivated witch-hunt stemming from his refusal to support Egbo’s meddling in the rotational leadership election of Uduere Youths in Ughelli.
“Egbo’s claim that my committee was dissolved over financial mismanagement is a smokescreen,” Egoide stated. “I was remitting all funds due to the council with receipts to show for it. Yet, under the table, I was compelled to pay him N400,000 monthly. I have evidence of these payments, including a transfer to his personal Globus Bank account.”
He further alleged that in December, Egbo demanded a cow as part of his kickbacks, prompting Egoide to send N1.2 million to the business account of the council chairman’s wife, Viviaro Enterprises, registered under First Bank.
“Viviaro Enterprises is registered at Movudu Egbo Drive, Ughelli, and incorporated in August 2023,” SaharaReporters verified through a Corporate Affairs Commission search. The company’s registration number is BN-7115543.
Egoide claimed the dissolution of the committee was engineered after he refused to assist Egbo in overriding community elders and installing his preferred candidate in the youth leadership of Uduere. “Egbo is bent on imposing his will, even against the wishes of elders from his own Abovwe quarters,” he said. “I stood with him through thick and thin, even when his property was burnt. But today, he pays me with betrayal.”
Sources within the Ughelli North council told SaharaReporters that the dissolution is rooted in a broader political power struggle. “Egbo wants to dominate the Uduere youth structure,” a staff member said anonymously. “He already installed his ally as youth secretary from Abovwe. Now he wants to hijack the chairmanship due to Eyavbie, but Egoide stood in his way.”
SaharaReporters also obtained two receipts corroborating the alleged N400,000 and N1.2 million payments from Egoide to Egbo and his wife’s enterprise.
Egoide has since called on Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori to intervene and investigate Egbo’s alleged misconduct.
As of press time, multiple calls and messages sent to Jaro Egbo’s phone by SaharaReporters seeking his response to the allegations went unanswered.
This latest development adds to growing concerns over transparency and abuse of power at the local government level in Delta State.