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Tag: Edo

  • Succession battle in Edo

    Succession battle in Edo

    Ahead of the governorship primary, the Edo State All Progressives Congress (APC) is battling with a succession crisis. Correspondent BEN OGBEMUDIA examines the genesis of the crisis and its implications, as the chapter prepares for the exercise.

    THE Edo State All Progressives Congress (APC) under the leadership of Governor Adams Oshiomhole was once a robust and united entity. This is based on the governor’s charismatic leadership and performance in the last seven years.

    But, as the chapter prepares for the governorship election, the party is not united. According to observers, the crisis may get out of hand, if not nipped in the bud.

    The Edo APC, which once prides itself as a united fold, is now breaking up into factions, because of the disagreement over the choice of the candidate.

    It all started with the rumour that Oshiomhole has anointed a particular aspirant for the ticket and that he has directed other aspirants to go and collapse their structures and work for his preferred candidate.

    This caused a stir within the rank and file of its members. This compelled the governor to come out openly to douse the tension by stating that the party will conduct an open and transparent primary for all aspirants. Nevertheless, he maintained that he has the right like other party members to support a particular candidate.

    The governor while speaking at a stakeholders meeting in Government House  attributed the success recorded by his administration to the collective achievements of party members. Oshiomhole added, however, that he can not be neutral in matters that may affect  his environment.

    His words: “I will never be afraid to take a position and to explain my position. Let me say clearly that I cannot be neutral in matters affecting my environment. If there is anyone of you who is a father of a house who will not intervene when it comes to how his house is organised, I don’t envy him. Even people who are not from Edo State, have been anxious that we get it right because they don’t want us to return to the past.”

    Apparently referring to the rumour that he has endorsed a particular candidate, ahead of the primary, the governor added: “In a democracy, whether mature or growing, endorsement is legitimate and democratic. What I owe Edo people is clear to me.”

    From the array of gladiators eyeing the ticket, many observers believe that the deputy governor, Dr. Pius Odubu, has the capacity and competence to pilot the affairs of the state after the exit of Oshiomhole and that he has what it takes to retain the state for the party.

    They opined that his preference even by a cross section of the populace for the job is because he is calm, calculated, loyal with competence, intelligent and credible.

    Unarguably, Odubu is the most experienced amongst the lot.

    But, who is afraid of Odubu? That is now the question on the lips of many residents of Edo State in recent weeks.

    But, it all took another dimension as perceived supporters of various aspirants began to test their muscles, trying to outwit one another with regards to the ownership of the party structure at the grassroots.

    A meeting called by the leader of the party in Uhumwode to discuss the issues relating to the choice and possible preference for the governors man ended in fiasco

    The attempt by the convener of the meeting, Charles Idahosa, to unveil a particular candidate in the locality was shouted down.

    The Special Adviser to the Governor on Political Affairs had at the meeting told them to key into the governor’s choice.

    Sources said the convener was immediately shouted down, when he broached the subject matter; saying the governor had directed party members from the area to support a particular candidate.

    The party faithful, it was learnt, chorused in unison that the governor cannot tell them what to do and that, rather, he should allow all aspirants to go to the field to contest the primaries.

    Later, the battle for succession was shifted to Egor Local Government Area.

    Tension heightened, following the suspension of the State Vice Chairman and senatorial leader, Gentleman Amegor, with the duo describing their suspension as baseless and illegal.

    In a press statement, five out of the seven chairmen of the local government areas of Edo South Senatorial Districts accused the suspended vice chairman of anti-party activity during the 2015 presidential election and failing woefully to implement the laudable objectives contained in Articles 13.9 of the party’s constitution.

    The statement by Pa. Ogbomo, Hon. Henry Okhuarobo, Mr. Vincent Uwadiae and Chief Johnson, among others, also accused Amegor of failure of convene regular meetings of the district to discuss and resolve issues affecting the party.

    But, in his reaction, the embattled vice chairman said his suspension by some leaders was null and void and of no effect. He added that those who suspended him are neither members of the state executives or executives of the Edo South Senatorial District Caucus of the party.

    He said: “That the APC has a constitution which must be obeyed. They ought to have checked our constitution to guide them in anything they do and those to do it. And that those who signed the release are majorly decampees from another party who enjoy crises.

    “I make bold to say that as a true Benin son I will not succumb to intimidation and blackmail. I am aware of those who can best serve the interest of Edo people. It is important to state categorically that all the accusation are baseless and without foundation whatsoever.”

    While threatening to seek legal redress against signatories to his suspension, he urged party supporters to disregard the illegal and baseless suspension of the founding secretary of APC as it is spurious, laughable and lacks legitimacy.”

    Later, ward chairmen passed a vote of no confidence on Hon. Henry Idahagbon, the Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General as leader of Egor Local Government Area.

    The party, in an emergency meeting held on January 16, said the decision became inevitable, owing to the commissioner’s cynical, parochial, self-seeking and over ambitious style of leadership, which, if not nipped in the bud, would inflict further bruises on the party.

    In a communique at the end of the meeting by the Egor Local Government Area party executive and ward chairmen, and made available to reporters in Benin, the party said that before Idahagbon’s appointment as leader of the APC,  it has never lost any election, but has rather been the pride of the Governor Oshiomhole and the leadership of the party at the state level.

    The communique said Idahagbon’s culture of divide and rule, high handedness and cluelessness resulted to the party’s defeat in the last general elections.

    While the party executive urged Oshiomhole to call the commissioner to order, they said, but  the collective patrimony he should stop making inciting and provocative statements that can lead to further conflict and skirmishes.

    The statement added: “Idahagbon has threatened to change the names of duly elected party executives, bragging that he will be the one to decide those that will vote in the forthcoming APC governorship primaries. This statement has no doubt heightened the tension in the local government.”

    But, Idahagbon described his purported suspension from the APC as ‘laughable’. The commissioner, who spoke to reporters in Benin, the state capital, said he is being castigated by those he described as forces of darkness.

    He added: “On the issue of passing a vote of no confidence on my leadership, I want to say that I became a leader because a lot of people were fed up with Amegor, an individual holding four positions. He was the senatorial leader; he was the LGA leader and leader of ward 5. In fact he collected N50, 000 for his unit as unit head. He collected another N1M meant for his ward, which he failed to distribute on Election Day and that was why we lost in his unit on Election Day. The man has been suspended and he is doing everything to fight back instead of him to confront the allegation before him.

    “They are just two allegations against him. First, he has not been calling party meetings since his election as senatorial leader. He has only called four to five meetings and in those meetings he will only invite people he believes are supporting his aspirant, which is wrong.

    “Why didn’t they go the party’s secretariat to pass the vote of no confidence? Why was he not at senatorial meeting we held? As a senatorial leader he is not allowed to openly support any candidate but rather he is threatening everyone.”

     

  • Pensioner dies during screening in Edo

    A 75-year old pensioner identified as Sunday Oboite on Tuesday died during screening at the Oredo Local Government Secretariat.

    He died at about 1:20 pm after waiting to be screened for several hours.

    The incident caused pandemonium among workers of the council.

    A doctor confirmed the pensioner dead.

    Some workers who met the late pensioner said he complained of not eating and taking drugs.

    They said late Oboite said he had no money to eat.

    A woman was said to have bought Viju milk for him at about 12:30pm.

    As at press time, the corpse was yet to be removed.

  • Edo PDP crisis worsens as members allege plot to conduct illegal congresses

    SOME members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State have raised the alarm on  “clandestine plans by the current leadership of the party” to hold “illegal” congress.

    In a letter to the party’s  National Working Committee yesterday, by their counsel Matthew Edaghese & Co, they said the Dan Orbih-led committee’s tenure expired since last September 24, but its officers refused to vacate their offices.

    The letter reads: “While the case is pending in court and the committee members sued as 2nd defendants  had entered appearance, Dan Orbih and his team have perfected a clandestine arrangement to hold illegal party congresses this month. This is the height of lawlessness and impunity.

    “Consequently, the public, particularly PDP members PDP in Edo State, are advised to avoid any dealings with the outgone committee as it no longer has power or mandate to act on behalf of the party.

    “Our client further informs us that he will petition the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate the financial transactions of the erstwhile committee after the expiration of its four-year tenure.”

  • Edo 2016: Fears as APC battles intra-party forces

    Edo 2016: Fears as APC battles intra-party forces

    As this year’s Edo State Governorship Election draws nearer, Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan, reports that the search for the candidate of All Progressives Congress is becoming more intriguing  

    The governorship election in Edo State holds later this year. For the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the election is all important and neither of them is willing to leave anything to chance in their now very tense struggle to control the state in the post Adams Oshiomhole era.

    But for the ruling APC, it appears there are many hurdles to cross on the way to remaining in power beyond this year. This is because a number of factors, largely within the party, are militating against efforts by both the governor and the leadership of the party in the state, to adequately prepare the party for victory in the coming election.

    Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the incumbent governor, will serve out his second tenure next November. Within his party (the APC) chieftains seeking to succeed him are already strategizing and lobbying political stakeholders as they struggle to get the nod of the party as its candidate in the coming election.

    While many are touring the nooks and crannies of the state in pursuit of the endorsement of party leaders and members, others are relying on their trusted aides and associates to help them reach out to prominent stakeholders across the state in their bid to get the party’s ticket ahead of the 2016 governorship election.

    Those who have already thrown their hats into the ring for the contest of the APC governorship ticket include: current deputy governor, Dr. Pius Odubu; Barrister Ken Imansuagbon; Edo State Commissioner for Works, Barrister Osarodion Ogie and Godwin Obaseki, the chairman of the economic team of Edo State Government.

    Others are former PDP governorship candidate, General Charles Airhiavbere, (rtd), former Minister of State (Works), Dr. Chris Ogienwonyi, Blessing Agbomere, Comrade Peter Isele, Pedro Obaseki and former governor, Prof. Oseriemen Osunbor, among others.

    But in spite of promises by the leadership of the ruling party to work against any form of imposition by conducting a free, fair and acceptable primary election to nominate its flag-bearer, speculation remain rife that Governor Oshiomhole may have made up his mind as to who the candidate of the party would be.

    For this reason and many others, there is unease within the party. While a good number of the aspirants have vowed to resist imposition, some prominent chieftains are determined to ensure that the party’s primary election is not influenced by any person or group.

    This is just as chieftains from Edo South and Edo Central senatorial districts remain at loggerheads over which zone of the state should produce the next governor of the state while Governor Oshiomhole insists that he, like any other party member, reserves the right to support any candidate of his choice ahead of the primary election that will produce the candidate of the ruling party.

    Zoning war looms

    The dilemma over which senatorial district should produce the next governor of the state, according to political observers, though a serious one, is not being taken serious by the leadership of the party. According to a chieftain of the party from Uromi in Edo Central Senatorial District, “the APC in Edo State needs to take the people of Edo Central more serious if it intends to win the next governorship election.”

    Julius Enahoro, a chieftain of the ruling party in Esanland, said in spite of the unending agitation of the people of Edo Central to be considered for the governorship of the state in 2016, signals emanating from some quarters are of the opinion that a candidate from Edo South is more favored.

    “The incumbent governor, Adams Oshiomhole, who hails from Edo North Senatorial District will serve out his second tenure in November, 2016. Now, the succession battle is between Edo South and Edo Central senatorial districts. But the some people feel Edo Central should not be taken serious. We will resist such notions seriously.

    “While we insist it is our turn to govern the state, we warn the party not to renege on its promise to conduct an open primary. Anything short of that would amount to crass injustice to the people of our zone. Edo Central remains the only district which has not had the full opportunity to produce the governor aside the 18 months of Governor Oserheimen Osunbor which was short-lived,” he said.

    Similarly, the President, Alliance for Good Governance, (AGG), a political pressure group in the state, Comrade Friday Eromosele, insisted that Esan people in the state remain the most marginalized in terms of producing the next governor.

    “What we the Esans are asking for is to be given the opportunity to produce the next governor that will take over from Governor Oshiomhole. We have always supported our brothers from Edo North and South senatorial districts in previous elections. It is only fair that we should be extended the same hand of fellowship. The Esans are saying it is their turn to produce the governor as they have not done so since 1979.

    “Former governor Osunbor and Barrister Kenneth Imansuagbon are two of the well qualified candidates we have in the race. Imansuagbon has continued to demonstrate that he is ready to rule Edo State judging by his philanthropic gesture to the needy. His annual free rice donation and scholarship award to pupils and students in tertiary institutions speak volumes.

    “All these are from his personal funds which he deplores to the welfare of the down-trodden and that alone is responsible for his intimidating rising political profile. If you can recall, he was a major financier of what has transformed into APC today.

    “What we expect is for the governor to ignore pressure on him to impose anybody on the party. He should allow all the aspirants go to the field and test their popularity among the delegates. Whoever emerges in a clean primary will be acceptable to all and not the ego-tripping by some aspirants that they have been anointed,” he said.

    Oshiomhole’s turbulent body language

    Also worrisome is the now unending rumpus within the party over a rumoured endorsement of one of the leading aspirants, Godwin Obaseki, by Governor Oshiomhole as his preferred governorship candidate of the party. Obaseki is currently the chairman of the economic team of Edo State Government. Although the leadership of the party has strived to debunk the rumor, it has simply refused to go away.

    Observers of the politics of the state are of the opinion that contrary to the many explanations of the party leadership, the body language and recent utterance of the governor is fueling the fear of party chieftains and members that the primary election may not be free and fair.

    Recently, while putting to rest speculations as to whether his party, the APC, will not conduct primaries ahead of 2016 governorship election, the governor further fueled suspicions about his preference for a particular aspirant amongst those jostling to succeed him.

    Oshiomhole said while both himself and his party are open to conducting party primaries for all aspirants, it must be made clear that he has the right just as other party members to support a particular aspirant as his preferred successor. He was speaking at a stakeholders meeting which had in attendance several party leaders.

    The governor said he cannot be neutral in what affects what will happen in the state after his tenure. He said, “I will never be afraid to take a position and to explain my position. Let me say clearly that I cannot be neutral in matters affecting my environment. If there is anyone of you who is a father of a house who will be quiet on how his house is organised, I don’t envy him.”

    Speaking further, he said “in a democracy, whether mature or growing, endorsement is legitimate and democratic. What I owe Edo people is clear to me. Even people who are not from Edo State, whether anywhere they see you, they ask please Comrade guide us, we don’t want to return to the past.”

    But reacting to the development, Bini elders, led by the younger brother of the Oba of Benin and Enogie of Obazuwa, Prince Edun Akenzua, under the aegis of Benin Leaders of Thought, stressed the need for the leadership of the APC to ensure free and fair primaries so as to produce a popular candidate that will be generally acceptable to the people of the state.

    In a communiqué by Prince Akenzua and Secretary of the BLT, Tosa Ovonranwe, the group stated that anointing a particular candidate as governor as it was being rumoured in the state, may amount to re-introducing god-fatherism in the state, which according to them, must be discouraged.

    “BLT believes that god-fatherism in Edo politics was detrimental to the social, economic and political development of the state. God-fatherism is not acceptable to BLT and the good people of Edo State. It should not be reintroduced under any guise. The people of Edo State should be given free hand to determine their next governor. Popular participation bestows responsibility for governing one’s own conduct, develops one’s character, self-reliance, intelligence and moral judgment.

    “In a democracy, there is no substitute for popular participation. Even a benevolent despot, who could govern in the public interest, would be rejected by the classic democrat. Man can only know the truth by discovering it himself”, the group said.

    Suspension galore

    And as the crisis rocking the party over who should fly the party’s gubernatorial banner deepens, the confusion in the party was further heightened following the recent controversial suspension of some prominent party leaders and chieftains across the state.

    The chairman of the party in Orhionmwon Local Government of the state and his counterpart in Ward 1 of Esan Central Local Government Area, are amongst many party executives and leaders currently battling to escape being sent out of the party by forces opposed to their stand on the governorship candidate debate.

    Hundreds of party faithful from Ward 1 Esan Central Local Government recently stormed the state party secretariat in protest against the suspension of the ward chairman, Mr. Isaac Ikhine. They described the suspension as unconstitutional and accused the state party chairman, Aslem Ojezua, of persecuting Ikhine unjustly.

    In Orhionmwon, an enlarged executive meeting held by 22 members and party executives described the suspension of the party chairman, Mr. Ehigie Matthew, over allegation bordering on high handedness, and financial misconduct as politically motivated.

    They alleged that the signatories to the suspension order did not only lack the power to converge  a meeting of the local government executive  but that they were financially induced.

  • Edo tasks Akwa Utd to win Cup tie

    Edo tasks Akwa Utd to win Cup tie

    Recuperating Akwa United defender, Namso Edo has charged his teammates to win for him at Congolese side Vita Club Mokanda.

    The Promise Keepers’ strongman picked up a muscle tear against Nasarawa United in the Kaduna’s leg of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) Super 4 tournament.

    The Federation Cup and NPFL Super 4 winners will be the guests of the Central African side in CAF Confederation Cup first leg clash today in Pointe-Noire, Republic of Congo.

    Edo charged his side to go for a comfortable result that will ease their work load in the reverse fixture in Nigeria.

    “I did not travel with my teammates for the clash against Vita Club Mokanda in Congo. The coach preferred me to rest to avoid complication on the thigh injury so that I will be 100% fit for the reverse fixture.

    “I wish the side well against the Congolese and I personally charged my teammates to shine in my absence and win for me. Most of the players have been waiting for this wonderful opportunity for quite some time, so they must make the chance count positively.

    “Even if they don’t record an outright win or draw they must not concede goals but score to make the second leg work easier. Continental competition is quite different from domestic duty so they must come back with a result that will help usto excel in the competition,” said Edo to supersport.com.

    Edo is already training and will be fit for the reverse fixture in a fortnight at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo.

  • Court ask Edo Monarch to vacate palace

    Court ask Edo Monarch to vacate palace

    A Benin High has asked the Alhaji Aliru Momoh Ikelebe III, the Otaru of Auchi to vacate the premises he currently occupies as his palace in the last two decades as his an illegal occupant.

    The property according to the court, which also ordered the monarch to pay N10million as damages, actually belongs to its rightful owner, Orbit Building society Limited, which sued the Otaru claiming ownership.

    Justice Esohe Ikponmwen who granted the claimant the right to take full possession of the property as the rightful owner, stressed that the company acquired the said property in 1993, adding that since the second defendant has no tie with the property he should vacate the property within 31 days.

    The court who awarded N5 million as general damages and N5 million as exemplary damages, stressed that the damages would have been bigger owing to the number of years the second respondent occupied the property but was awarded in line with the demand of the claimant.

    Orbit Building Society had in 1997 filed a suit against the Otaru of Auchi asking that he quit the property which is located at old Government Reservation Area, Auchi Estako West LGA, Auchi.

    It was gathered that the property, which was then known as Bendel Hotel was bought by the claimant from Edo State government in 1993 with an agreement to continue to keep the hotel running and provide employment opportunity for the community. But the Otaru illegally took it over and built his palace on it.

    For Ikoghode Julius, the Managing director Orbit Building Society Limited, it was a dream come true, pointing out he had on several occasions confronted the royal father on his decision to move his Palace into the property in 1993, adding that after waiting for five years, he decided to seek redress in the court.

    According to him, Edo State government told me that “I should use whatever means available to recover my property and I am happy that the court has given me my property back after twenty two years.”

  • Edo Muslims: Mixing facts with fictions

    Edo State is entering a very peculiar stage in its political history. It is therefore expected that over the next few weeks or months, individuals and groups will, for partisan reasons, find it convenient to be biased in addressing issues of common interest. Indeed, as the race to replace incumbent governor, Comrade Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole, whose tenure winds up on Friday, November 11, heats up, stake holders will up the ante with antics deliberately designed to take the wind off the sail of their rivals’ ships. And without any doubt, the battle will be no-hold bared where ordinary onlookers will hardly be able to differentiate facts from jaundiced claims. It has begun in earnest as a faceless Muslim group took a full page advertorial in The Nation of Monday, January 25. In the said publication, the group called on President Muhammadu Buhari to save Muslims in the state from what it termed the Oshiomhole’s ‘…orgy of political repression and marginalization’. But a peep through the content reveals that the claim is a cocktail of falsehood deliberately orchestrated to turn a section of the populace against the governor.

    The first indication that the group is a front for the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is its description of the governor, Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole. Besides referring to the state as an empire, it addressed the governor as an emperor, a unique description which fits aptly into the vocabulary of its chairman, the very loquacious Chief Dan Orbih. It is simply a proxy fight in the visage of the biblical hand of Esau, voice of Jacob.

    Ordinarily, the group made some weighty allegations that are worthy of attention. It however, messed them up with factual errors. For instance, it accused the administration of deliberately denying them of any worthwhile position in the cabinet, particularly in the distribution or appointment of commissioners. In its words, “When Adam Eric Aliyu Oshiomhole came to office, there was high expectation in the Ummah that he was going to reverse the trend of our under representation and low visibility in sensitive and key positions in government. This hope was immediately dashed when he constituted his first cabinet of over 18 commissioners without any visible Muslim presence. Only his friend, Abdul Oroh, made the list.”

    By interpretation, the group’s assumption is that Oroh lost his identity as a Muslim because he made the list not on the strength of the group’s recommendation but on his fraternal or personal relationship with the governor.

    While it is not very imperative to contest any claim by the group, one is however, constrained to point out its factual errors with regards to the number of Muslims in the governor’s cabinet. The truth is that though all of them are not commissioners, some of them can be said to be his eyes and ears. A few of them include his Private Principal Secretary, the very quiet and unassuming power broker, who took over from the late Olaitan Oyerinde, incidentally another Muslim, and Alhaji Mikano Kadiri, Special Adviser/Principal Security Officer, who commands such influence in the administration that no one can afford to ignore him. Others are Kassim Afegbua, his equally influential former Special Adviser, Media and Public Affairs, now information commissioner, Hajia Maimunat Momodu, Executive Director, Special Duties, Abdulahi Imhodagbe, Executive Director, Governor’s Office, Hajia Bilikisu, Executive Director, SACA, and Alhaji Abu, Permanent Secretary, Office of the Secretary to the State Government. The list is endless. Simply put, it is callous and wicked for anyone to deliberately turn facts on their heads all in an attempt to maliciously plant seeds of discord among the populace.

    The group also claimed that the state government denied it the use of the Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia Stadium but conveniently excluded the fact that national security agencies provided the information that labelled its intended event as unhealthy for public safety. They also forgot that as the chief security officer in the state, the governor is duty bound to act decisively to forestall any breakdown of law and order, a reason for which he may have acted the way he reportedly did. Instead, it employed the so-called denial as an excuse to justify its scandalous accusation against him. They added that besides openly insulting and branding all Muslims in the state as “miscreants and thieves”, he went the extra mile of not sparing the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Mohammed Sa’ad Abubakar, who incidentally is the President General of Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, NSCIA. Unfortunately, it failed to establish how the governor insulted the revered Sultan.

    Rather than admit that its claims are mere attempts to whip up damaging emotions against the governor, the group went on to accuse him of gathering and sharing N3 million of state funds to Muslim leaders on January 16, arguably to correct the mistake of preventing the group from using the stadium facility to discuss its numerous plights. But any cursory observer can tell that its sole aim is to take advantage of some fortuitous events and mischievously paint same as established rules designed by the governor to stifle the ambition of Muslim community in the state, one of which now includes the deputy governor slot in the next administration. Successfully, it squandered any public goodwill it may have envisaged.

    Yet, the group committed more blunders by presenting its case in a cocktail of mind blowing grammar obviously designed to impress readers. In one fell swoop, it alluded to the forlorn hope of its members in the state by claiming that they are “…sanguine that a lugubrious past was going to be consigned to the waste basket of history… But little did we know that our lacrimation was not going to come to an end…” as the condition Muslims found themselves remained a “Store house of mortification, denigration and suffocating misery” a reason for which they continued to “…remain luxated from all things of honour…”

    In order to be saved from what appears to be more than “… cruel mendacity…” it called on President Buhari to “…kindly intervene to extricate the Muslims from the shackles of mortification”.

    Igodomigodo, the wordsmith and Chief Zebrudaya Okoligwe, the clown, must be going green with envy.

    • Omoarelojie writes from Benin.
  • Edo Commissioner denies embezzling N1bn

    Edo Commissioner denies embezzling N1bn

    Edo State Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Hon Abdul Oroh, has denied allegations that he embezzled the sum of one billion naira when he was the Commissioner of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

    The money was reportedly meant for financial support to Association of Libya Returnees who were trained by the Edo Agriculture Development Programme.

    Head of the group, Solomon Okoduwa, had alleged in a television programme that the money was released after the training programme but that it was shared among top government functionaries under Oroh.

    Oroh in a press statement issued to journalists Friday said no money was approved by the state government for such project.

    He stated that the state government decided to rehabilitate and reintegrate the Libya returnees into the society by training them on modern farming skills to enable the, become self reliant.

    According to him, “The allegations that the State Government released one billion naira, which never happened, is not only callous, mischievous, senseless and a calculated attempt to smear my hard earned reputation.”

    “Okoduwa and his cohorts have been inundating me with series of requests and frivolous demands. I have refused to join issues with these street urchins, whose stock in trade is to act the script of their paymaster.”

     

     

  • Female led robbery gang snatches commercial bus in Edo

    Female led robbery gang snatches commercial bus in Edo

    Panic gripped major commercial transport owners in Edo State following the snatching of an 18 seater Hiace Bus belonging to Agbonifo Line Nigeria Limited by a suspected female led syndicate robbery gang dressed in fake Nurse Uniform‎.

    The vehicle with registration No: DGE 317XB and chassis No: JTFRX12PV08042624 was snatched at gun point along the Ekpoma – Agbor road after the driver of the bus Tony Nwaosa, was chartered by the said female armed robber from their park at Ekpoma in Esan West local
    government area of Edo state.

    The Driver who was Lucky to be alive after he was brutalized by the gangs of robbers spoke from his hospital and narrated his ordeal when contacted.

    He said “I was in Ekpoma at our park between the hours of 10 to 11am last week Thursday when a lady approached me that she wants to charter my bus to a village near Agbor. We agreed for a fee of N40, 000. I met my manager at Ekpoma to confirmed from my MD if I should embark on
    the trip or not and he agreed. So, the following morning (Friday) a bus was sent from Auchi which we used. Shortly after we departed from the park it occurred to me that I didn’t carry the vehicle’s manifest papers so I asked her to permit me to return to the part to pick it which
    she obliged.

    “During the course of the journey the girl was receiving several phone calls and I specifically asked her what exactly are we going to carry and she said computers which her husband that lives abroad imported. I became suspicious of her because of her conversation on phone as if
    the person was nearby. She later asked me to stop to pick somebody along the road and immediately the caller called her again that we have passed him she then asked me to park. Only for me to sight about 7 armed men from a nearby bush and they demanded the key of the bus.

    “They started beating me with the butt of their guns and blocks from an uncompleted building while the girl watched until I couldn’t remember anything that happened again. I only woke up at the hospital. That is all I can remember.”

    The Managing Director of the transport Company, Festus Okhuomose, Agbonifo, said the matter had been reported at Igbanke and Abudu Divisional Police Station.

    He corroborated the drivers account and however suspected a foul play between his manager at Ekpoma and the girl.

    While calling on security agencies in apprehending the robbers he wondered why no receipts indicating the identity of the girl was issued by his manager before allowing the chartered bus to embark on such journey.

  • Fire razes two buildings in Benin

    Two buildings in different parts of Benin City were on Monday razed by fire apparently cause by power surge.

    Both buildings were completely razed as men of the Edo State Fire Service prevented the fire from spreading to other buildings.

    Landlord of one of the building located at 13 Ekaladeran Street off Aerodrome Close, Ernest Aganmwonyi, said the fire was caused by power surge.

    Ernest said they tried fruitlessly to put out the fire.

    He said he was at lost where to relocate his family members to.

    Occupants of the second building located at 6 Osunde Street in Uselu quarters said they were yet to ascertain cause of the fire.

    A tenant in the house, Ekunade Irabor said the fire spread rapidly before they could get water to put out the fire.

    She said the fire started from one of the rooms.

    No life was lost in both incidents.