The Nation Newspaper

Category: Edo 2020

  • We will continue to invest in education, says PDP

    We will continue to invest in education, says PDP

    Bisi Olaniyi, Benin

     

    THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has pledged to continue to invest in education.

    Its candidate, Governor Godwin Obaseki, made the pledge on Tuesday at Oloku, Ward Six, during PDP’s campaign.

    He said education would continue to take centre stage in the policy thrust of his administration if re-elected, because of its importance in the society.

    Read Also: Obaseki to electorate: Come out and vote on Sept 19

    Obaseki said in the last three years and nine months, his administration had done much in revamping and redirecting the education sector.

    He highlighted his administration’s achievements in other areas to include regular payment of workers’ salaries, payment of pensions, establishment of a modular refinery as well as power generation.

    The governor said his administration had plans for the state, as he was committed to moving the state forward.

     

  • ‘Obaseki battling to justify deceitful public service promotion claim’

    ‘Obaseki battling to justify deceitful public service promotion claim’

    Bisi Olaniyi, Benin 

     

    THE Media Campaign Council of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has alleged that Governor Godwin Obaseki is battling to justify his deceitful public service promotion claim.

    It added that Obaseki embarked on secret inauguration of members of the Edo State Judicial Service Commission, in view of its exposure of the deceitful announcement made by him for the beginning of public service promotions, despite lacking constitutional power to follow through on the directive.

    The campaign council, through its Chairman, Prince John Mayaki, yesterday in an online statement, alleged that Obaseki had spurned requests to inaugurate a functional judicial service commission for many months, because he desired to lord over Edo like an emperor.

    It alleged that the governor was scampering about over the secret inauguration, similar to the sham he orchestrated at the House of Assembly during nocturnal hours of June 17, 2019, to justify a public service promotion claim he made, but was exposed by the APC as mere empty gesture, play to the gallery and a deceitful announcement made to obtain votes.

    Read Also: ‘Re-elect Obaseki, Shaibu’

    The campaign council challenged Obaseki to explain his refusal to inaugurate the commission for months, despite approving a reconstitution, but he decided to secretly do the same thing on the eve of the election and days after his purported directive for the commencement of due promotions in the public service was revealed as a weightless announcement outside the power of his office.

    It also accused Obaseki of acting as if he had supreme power, reiterating that in a democracy, elected offices had limits and stipulated tenure.

    Obaseki’s Special Adviser on Media and Communication Strategy, Crusoe Osagie, did not react to the allegations levelled against his boss at press time.

  • Court stops police from arresting ex-speaker

    Court stops police from arresting ex-speaker

    Bisi Olaniyi, Benin

     

    AN Edo High Court in Benin has restrained the Police, the Department of State Security (DSS) and other security agencies from arresting former Edo House of Assembly Speaker Kabiru Adjoto.

    The court’s order is coming on the heels of allegations by the All Progressives Congress (APC) that the former speaker and others sponsored thugs who recently invaded the Assembly.

    Justice Efe Ikponmwonba on Tuesday granted the order, following an ex-parte application filled by RID Okezie Esq., asking the court to restrain the Police, DSS and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) from arresting or detaining him without the process of law.

    Read Also: Akeredolu to chairmen: work for APC’s victory

    Justice Ikponmwonba said the order would subsist, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice brought before it.

    The judge also granted the application, ordering the Police, DSS, NSCDC and other security agencies to suspend all actions, pending the determination of the substantive matter.

    “The respondents by themselves, their agents, servants, privies, workmen and/or assigns are hereby restrained from molesting, harassing or disenfranchising the applicant,” the judge said.

     

     

  • Ize-Iyamu: I will prioritise teachers’ employment

    Ize-Iyamu: I will prioritise teachers’ employment

    Bisi Olaniyi, Benin 

     

    THE All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the September 19 governorship election, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, has promised to prioritise recruitment of teachers, if voted as governor.

    He spoke on Tuesday during his ward-to-ward campaign at Arokho, Otuo and Uahumi communities in Owan East Local Government.

    Ize-Iyamu said many schools, especially those in rural areas, lacked core subject teachers and basic learning facilities.

    “We have schools, but no teachers to teach our pupils. Teachers retire on a daily basis, but the current government has refused to employ more teachers.

    “I promise to prioritise employment of teachers in our schools to ensure our pupils get the right knowledge to become future leaders,” he said.

    Read Also: Christian leaders endorse Ize-Iyamu

    The APC standard-bearer said he would empower vigilance group members and place them on a monthly salary to ensure effective community policing.

    He said the skill acquisition centre and the hospital built by a former member of the House of Representatives in the area would be made functional.

    “My SIMPLE agenda is to make life better for Edo people through manpower development, job creation, leadership by example and infrastructural development, among others.

    “This council is known for farming. I promise to assist farmers with loans and farm inputs if elected governor,” he said.

    Ize-Iyamu promised to facilitate the installation of telecommunications connectivity equipment at Arokho.

     

     

  • PDP’s ex-governorship aspirant slams Obaseki’s critics

    PDP’s ex-governorship aspirant slams Obaseki’s critics

    Bisi Olaniyi, Benin 

     

    A FORMER governorship aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Kenneth Imasuagbon, has berated the critics of Governor Godwin Obaseki.

    He accepted the challenge by chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to take them on a tour of Obaseki’s projects.

    Imasuagbon, popularly called “Rice Man,” on Tuesday in Benin, in an interactive session with reporters, said the governor had built over 350 kilometres of road and embarked on projects.

    Read Also: Ize-Iyamu can’t defeat me, says Obaseki

    He said it was not true that Obaseki constructed only three roads in almost four years, as alleged by the Opposition.

    Imasuagbon said: “There is no ward in Edo State that Obaseki has not inaugurated one project or another.”

    He urged residents to re-elect the governor on September 19, to enable him consolidate his achievements.

     

     

  • Obaseki running on excuses, blackmail, says APC

    Obaseki running on excuses, blackmail, says APC

    Bisi Olaniyi, Benin 

     

    INCUMBENT governments run for re-election on their achievements and records in office, but Governor Godwin Obaseki has only excuses, deceit and blackmail to offer Edo people, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said.

    In a statement on Tuesday, the party said Governor Obaseki and the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) charge for another four years at the helm had run on lazy gossips and tactless lies peddled in the media to generate sympathy and distract attention from their failures.

    Read Also: Obaseki, APC in showdown over refinery 

    Mr. John Mayaki, the chairman of the Edo APC Media Campaign Council, who endorsed the statement, said Governor Obaseki was a confused candidate spurned by his closest aides and associates because he lacked administrative skills and frittered away his goodwill on lazy and corrupt endeavours that yielded nothing but worthless Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs).

     

  • PDP, APC leaders clash over monarch’s suspension

    PDP, APC leaders clash over monarch’s suspension

    Bisi Olaniyi, Benin 

     

    THE Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) Campaign Council, Chief Dan Orbih and the Chairman of the Media Campaign Council of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prince John Mayaki, have clashed over the 2016 suspension of the Ojuromi of Uromi in Edo Central Senatorial District, HRH Anselm Aidenojie II.

    Orbih, who is also the national vice chairman, Southsouth, of the PDP, on Monday night at Ring Road, Benin, while inaugurating an electronic billboard to watch Governor Godwin Obaseki’s campaign jingles and the earlier held electioneering, blamed former governor Comrade Adams Oshiomhole for the suspension of the monarch.

    Read Also: 774,000 jobs illegal, say PDP Reps 

    The billboard was inaugurated ahead of Tuesday’s commencement of Obaseki’s re-election ward-to-ward campaigns in Edo South Senatorial District.

    Mayaki, however, said Obaseki was the mastermind of the king’s suspension, as he (governor) consistently pursued the sanctioning of the traditional ruler, whom he said Obaseki accused of trying to block his emergence as governor by allegedly backing the PDP in 2016.

     

  • ‘Re-elect Obaseki, Shaibu’

    ‘Re-elect Obaseki, Shaibu’

    The Senior Special Assistant to Edo State Deputy Governor, Mr. Benjamin Atu, has urged people to give Governor Godwin Obaseki and his running mate, Philip Shaibu, the mandate to continue in office.

    He said: “The volumes of the programmes and projects of the Obaseki administration are creating wealth and job opportunities, reviving collapsed business enterprises, stimulating agriculture and local food production.

    “Democracy can’t be more decent and responsive than what we have seen and witnessed in Edo State under the current administration.

    “In fact, Governor Obaseki has demonstrated to us the true bible of democracy and it requires our efforts in moving democracy forward by ensuring his re-election.”

    Atu, in a statement, said the very few, most vocal critics of Governor Obaseki were those who were failures during their era at the state and federal levels, who couldn’t blaze their trail and who owed Edo State people an apology for mismanagement of the state’s resources.

  • APC accuses PDP of plotting to use ex-INEC official to rig poll 

    APC accuses PDP of plotting to use ex-INEC official to rig poll 

    By Bisi Olaniyi, Benin 

    The Media Campaign Council of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of colluding with a retired senior official of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to rig the September 19 election.

    It also accused PDP leaders of failing to convince the residents to overlook the failure of the party’s governorship candidate.

    The campaign council through its Chairman, Prince John Mayaki, yesterday in an online statement said the retired senior official was forced out of INEC because of his bias.

    It alleged: “The retired senior official

    has been identified in a plot to trade sensitive information on the results collation process of the INEC with the PDP, in exchange for benefits.

    “The senior official initially refused to bow out of INEC, despite the expiration of his tenure at the commission, but he was forced out, following the revelation of his strong ties with the state government and his plot to stay put in INEC to gain access to sensitive information on the election.

    “The government discreetly named the senior official as a private consultant in the campaign, with a mandate to provide tactics and strategies, using his experience at INEC, on ways to manipulate the election and substitute real results obtained at the polling units with fake results, pre-written at the Government House, Benin.”

    The campaign council urged INEC to strengthen its infrastructure for the election against saboteurs.

    It enjoined the PDP to accept its looming defeat in good fate.

    PDP Publicity Secretary Chris Nehikhare was contacted on the phone for reaction.

    He promised to respond “very soon.” But he did not do so at press time.

     

     

     

     

     

  • PDP, APC disagree over Uzodimma’s template

    PDP, APC disagree over Uzodimma’s template

    Bisi Olaniyi, Benin  

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), Edo State chapters, have disagreed over Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma’s template.

    PDP, through its Publicity Secretary, Chris Nehikhare, on Sunday at a news conference in Benin, alleged that the party had uncovered a plot by APC leaders to disrupt the September 19 governorship election, use fake result sheets in some polling units and write results in hotels, which they would attempt to smuggle in at the collation centres.

    It claimed that PDP’s agents in APC gave the information on Uzodimma’s template, which it said would be resisted by members of the party (PDP). The party said Edo residents were wiser, as they would re-elect Governor Godwin Obaseki and defend their votes.

    PDP said: “Edo APC has imaginary SIMPLE agenda, but PDP’s Obaseki is embarking on mega projects that are people oriented and capital intensive, across the three senatorial districts. APC members are surprised to see many projects embarked on by Obaseki’s administration and inaugurated during the campaigns. We are not noise makers, but silent achievers.

    “APC members are reeling out unacceptable fake news on arms’ build-up, threat of violence and use of thugs to scare Edo people from coming out to vote on September 19. Edo residents must reject APC and its governorship candidate (Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu) with their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).

    Read Also: Uzodinma commissions road projects

    “We have tamed APC’s lions and tigers. APC is peopled by desperate members and they have run out of ideas. APC will be rejected by residents on September 19. Let us encourage and support Governor Obaseki to do more during his second term. We are very proud of Obaseki and his achievements. PDP will record a landslide victory on September 19.”

    PDP said its campaign in Edo South would begin tomorrow, claiming that the senatorial district’s 77 wards were for it, while thanking the people of the 54 wards in Edo Central for the massive support during the electioneering in the area.

    APC, reacting through a member of its Media Campaign Council for Edo governorship election, Simon Ebegbulem, who is Imo State’s Commissioner for Special Projects, said the party would resist any attempt by the failed PDP government in Edo to manipulate the crucial election.

    It said: “It is clear that Obaseki and his PDP are finding it difficult to market themselves to the electorate, after four years of failed promises, signing frivolous MoUs (Memoranda of Understanding) and Ponzi government, therefore have resorted to blackmail and lies to cover their shameful outing so far.

    “Governor Uzodimma is not an official of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). So, he has no business keeping result sheets.

    “The governor believes in the rule of law and he has strong belief that only the electorate will vote out Obaseki and not rigging. Obaseki is only disclosing what he and other PDP governors have perfected to execute.

    “It is on record where Obaseki boasted that only himself and his deputy (Philip Shaibu), have monopoly of rigging and maiming, because they have immunity. So, they are only rehearsing their evil plots, seeing that the electorate have rejected them.

    “Telling lies and propaganda will not save Obaseki. He will be voted out on September 19. APC will resist any attempt by the failed PDP government to manipulate the election, as they are plotting.”

    APC said Uzodimma had no business rigging the election, but he would stop Obaseki from rigging the poll on September 19.