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Tag: Godwin Obaseki

  • Just in: Knocks, kudos as Obaseki performs another ‘wake and see’

    Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, on Tuesday lived up to his ‘wake and see’ toga as residents woke up to hear the much awaited 7th Assembly has been inaugurated.

    Hon Frank Okiye (Esan North East 1) was elected Speaker while Hon. Yekini Idiaye of Akoko Edo Constituency 11 was elected Deputy Speaker.

    Government officials, in their various social media platforms, said the Assembly was inaugurated at 3pm on Monday while opponents claimed it was done at 12 midnight.

    Reports said Clerk of the Edo House of Assembly, Alhaji Audu Yahaya Omogbai, ushered the members-elect into the chamber and read out the letter of proclamation transmitted to the office of the clerk by Governor Obaseki.

    After his election, Speaker Okiye thanked all present for the confidence reposed in him and promised to work for the people of Edo State.

    Read Also: ‘Obaseki can’t intimidate us’

    Okiye urged all lawmakers who have not satisfied the process of swearing-in, including completion of the asset declaration form.

    According to him: “It is with the deepest sense of humility that I receive this call to serve the people and I assure that I will do all in my power to serve their best interest at all times.

    “I congratulate my colleagues and fellow members who are today inaugurated and urge other members-elect who are yet to meet up with the requirements for inauguration to do so without delay so they can join this honorable house in the discharge of its responsibilities.”

    Sitting was adjourned till July 17, 2019.

    Among members present at the inauguration were Hon. Nosa Okunbor; Hon. Henry Okuarobo; Hon. Uyi Ekhosuehi; Hon. Marcus Onobun; Hon. Ephraim Anehbosele; Hon. Roland Asoro; Hon. Eric Okaka; Hon Frank Okiye and Hon Yekini

    It was learnt that a team of lawyers were assembled to study the implication  before three lawmakers were invited for a meeting and in the process, their phones collected from them after which they were driven to the House of Assembly and then sworn in by the Ckerk.

    There was heavy security presence around the assembly premises.

     

     

  • ‘Obaseki can’t intimidate us’

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers-elect in Edo State have said Governor Godwin Obaseki cannot intimidate them into picking Assembly leaders of his choice.

    The party’s leadership last weekend zoned the Assembly positions to different senatorial districts, but the actions did not go down well with the 19 lawmakers.

    The lawmakers, who addressed a news conference yesterday, accused Obaseki of attempting to truncate democracy by refusing to send a proclamation letter.

    Washinton Osifo said the governor was usurping the powers of the legislature by refusing to allow the Assembly function. He insisted that the governor, no matter how powerful, could not impose a Speaker or Deputy Speaker on the legislature.

    It was gathered that the lawmakers-elect have made some fresh demands on Obaseki before they will adhere to the party’s zoning arrangement.

    The demands, according to sources, is for the governor to give them the yearly N36 million for constituency projects instead of executing the projects on their behalf; payment of all allowances owed old members, restoration of travelling allowances and other payments stopped by the governor.

    He said: “We urge all well-meaning individuals, including Oba Ewuare II and President Muhammadu Buhari, to prevail on Governor Obaseki to issue the letter of proclamation to enable the Edo State House of Assembly function.

    “We are ready to defend our democracy and the sanctity of the legislature.”

    But Obaseki, who spoke through his Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Paul Ohonbamu, assured the lawmakers that the proclamation letter would soon be sent. He said the party’s intervention in the assembly leadership was to prevent the rancour that characterised the sixth Assembly.

    He said: “They are products of the party and the party is interested in what they do. The party only helped them do what is needful.

    “The governor invited them and told them the intervention is for legislative harmony. Nobody wants to impose leadership on them. The delay is not a threat to democracy.”

    However, state chairman Anselm Ojezua said there would be repercussions if the lawmakers-elect do not comply with the party’s decision.

    According to him, the lawmakers have accepted the party’s zoning arrangement, and it was only left for zonal leaders to consult and come up with recommendations to the party.

    Read Also: You cannot intimidate us, lawmakers-elect tell Obaseki

    On the constituency project funds being demanded, Ojezua said the issue of constituency project was a matter of policy and open to negotiations. He explained that the party has nothing against legitimate claims of the lawmakers-elect.

    He said: “There are legitimate claims. The party has nothing against them making those claims if they are legitimate. I think the governor is open to discussions as long as there is dialogue. They are not threatening anybody; they are just asking for what they believe will enhance service delivery to their constituencies.

    “There is a way we can go about it. If there are projects they are interested in, they can make input into the budget and the state will implement. There is nothing wrong if a lawmaker ensures a project goes to his constituency so that he can have something to show.

    “The party is keeping to its own obligations, and we have taken needed steps. The governor has prerogative to write the proclamation letter. We don’t need to put him under pressure. He knows the importance of the parliament in a democratic system. He will do what is needful.

    “There is nothing like any lawmaker being an Oshiomhole’s or Obaseki’s boy. Obaseki is Oshiomhole’s boy; there can be no other Oshiomhole’s or Obaseki’s boys. If people should give themselves name, it does not make sense to me because all of us are Oshiomhole’s product.”

  • Obaseki reiterates commitment to attract more investments to Edo

    The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has reiterated his administration’s drive to make Edo State the preferred investment destination in Nigeria, by opening the space for investors to tap the state’s business, tourism and industrial potentials.

    The governor said this while participating in an 18-hole Golf Tournament organised by JAMZ Golf Group Benin City Tour, at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) Golf course in Benin City, the Edo State capital.

    Obaseki noted, “The idea is to make Edo State attractive and a magnet for people to come and invest. For a place to grow, you need an infusion of resources, capital and manpower. That is what we are doing at the moment.”

    He said Edo has a strategic location for investment, noting that his administration will continue to work so that people will be motivated to pull their businesses to the state.

    According to him, “It is when people come and see things for themselves that they will consider investing in the state. We want to encourage people to come and invest in sports, build museums and enjoy our rich cultural heritage.”

    The coordinator of the JAMZ Golf Group, Asue Ighodalo, said the group is part of the Ikoyi Golf Club with members drawn from all parts of the country, adding that group is in Edo State to felicitate with Governor Obaseki, and to contribute to the state’s tourism sector.

    Read Also: Community leader to Obaseki: complete Okpekpe road

    “We have played at the Benin Club Golf Course and just played at the UBTH Golf course and we are impressed with what we have seen,” Ighodalo said.

    He commended the developmental strides of Governor Obaseki, noting that the group will join hands to support the governor to make Edo State an economic hub.

    Ighodalo added, “Edo has the potential to be the best state in the country in terms of education, sports and human capital development.”

    The captain of the UBTH Golf Club, Prof. Gabriel Ofovwe, expressed appreciation to the governor and his friends for taking part in the tournament, which he described as an honour. The captain presented the UBTH Golf Club membership Identity Card to the governor.

    Meanwhile, Governor Obaseki joined friends and well-wishers in celebrating with the families of the Obasogie of Benin, Chief Eduwu Ekhator and Bishop Eddy Omoruyi Okundaye, as their children; Princess Ehizogie and Benson Otamamwan, were joined in holy matrimony on Saturday.

     

  • Edo APC lawmakers-elect reject party’s nomination

    The rift between National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and Governor Godwin Obaseki appeared deepened as the lawmakers-elect for the Edo State House of Assembly rejected nomination for the House leadership by the State Executive Committee of the APC.

    Three lawmakers-elect from Edo Central Senatorial district are in the race for the position of the Speaker of Edo State House of Assembly.

    They are Frank Okiye (Esan North East 1) Emmanuel Okoduwa (Esan North East 11) and Victor Edoror (Esan Central).

    Read Also: Fire razes 30 shops in Edo market

    A meeting between the state leadership of the APC and the lawmakers-elect ended in deadlock as the lawmakers-elect insisted on not abiding by the decision of the party.

    Sources said the Edo APC stuck to Hon Frank Okiye as the Speaker but the lawmakers-elect rejected the proposal on ground that they should be given the independence to choose their leaders during plenary.

    The source said the lawmakers-elect argued that they would not allow Governor Obaseki pick their leaders for them.

    Another source said what the lawmakers-elect demanded was just proclamation letter from the governor.

    A chieftain of the party who pleaded anonymity said the lawmakers-elect were asked to go and choose their leaders based on zoning arrangement of the party.

    According to the source, the Speakership seat was zoned to Edo Central, Deputy Speaker’s and Deputy Whip seat were zoned to Owan Federal Constituency while the Chief Whip seat was zoned to Edo South.

  • Edo APC lawmakers-elect reject party’s nomination

    The rift between National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress(APC) Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and Governor Godwin Obaseki appeared to have deepened as lawmakers-elect of Edo State House of Assembly rejected nomination for leadership of the House by the State Executive Committee of the APC.

    Three lawmakers-elect from Edo Central senatorial district are in the race for the position of the Speaker of Edo State.

    They are Frank Okiye (Esan North East 1); Emmanuel Okoduwa (Esan North East 11) and Victor Edoror (Esan Central).

    A meeting between the state leadership of the APC and the lawmakers-elect ended in deadlock as the lawmakers-elect insisted on not abiding by the decision of the party.

    Sources said the Edo APC stuck to Hon Frank Okiye as the Speaker but the lawmakers-elect rejected the proposal on ground that they should be given the independence to choose their leaders during plenary.

    The source said the lawmakers-elect argued that they would not allow Governor Obaseki pick their leaders for them.

    Another source said what the lawmakers-elect demanded was just proclamation letter from the Governor.

    Read Also: APC chieftain makes case for Buhari

    It was gathered that the lawmakers-elect see Okiye as having the backing of Governor Obaseki while the two others have the backing of Oshiomhole.

    A chieftain of the party who pleaded anonymity said the lawmakers-elect were asked to go and choose their leaders based on zoning arrangement of the party.

    According to the source, the Speakership seat was zoned to Edo Central, Deputy Speaker’s and Deputy Whip seat were zoned to Owan Federal Constituency while the Chief Whip seat was zoned to Edo South.

     

     

  • Obaseki must go, forum insists

    The Edo Peoples Movement (EPM) has insisted that the peace talk between Governor Godwin Obaseki and National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, would not stop its resolve to stop the governor from getting a second term ticket.

    President Muhammadu Buhari last week initiated talks between Obaseki and Oshiomhole, though Obaseki said there was no rift between them. Oshiomhole has kept sealed lips.

    The EPM said its two major objectives of re-positioning the APC in the state and getting a replacement for Obaseki is a task that must be accomplished.

    The Convener, Henry Idahagbon, told reporters that whatever peace initiated and concluded in Abuja would remain in Abuja.

    He said: “Edo Peoples Movement will stick to its two cardinal objectives – first is to restructure the party by strengthening it, by returning the party to its old winning ways – an election winning machine. The second is to shop for a suitable replacement for Governor Godwin Obaseki in 2020. These two motives are immutable; we stand by them and whatever peace move they make good for them. We don’t have any problem with any peace move, but the peace move will be without prejudice to the cardinal objectives of Edo Peoples Movement.”

    Read Also: Obaseki elected vice chairman Progressives Governors Forum

    But former Chief Whip of the House of Assembly, Osagboivo Iyoha, said EPM was a small fraction of the APC in Edo.

    According to him, nobody can stop Obaseki from securing a second term because the people would appreciate his performance. He noted that

    Iyoha explained that the complaints of the EPM were not issues that would bothered the APC members.

    He said: “How many are they in the APC that they can stop Obaseki? What are their grievances? There are some who claimed they were supposed to be appointed by Obaseki; others said they were former revenue collectors who were sacked.

    “Some of them have been in power since 1999, and the little time they are out of power, they want to pull the roof down. Obaseki has majority support of Edo APC members. We will defeat them at the primaries.”

    A former aide to Oshiomhole, Prince Greg Ogiogwa, urged Idahagbon not to turn personal issues to political issues because political issues affect the lives and destiny of millions of Edo people.

    He told the EPM to desist from disinformation and other theatrics aimed at blackmailing the governor to part with the people’s matrimony.

  • Obaseki: no quarrel with Oshiomhole

    Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki has described the reported infraction between him and his predecessor, Adams Oshiomhole, as fake.

    Obaseki, who also spoke on his second term bid, said whether he gets a second term or not depends on God and the people of Edo State.

    The governor, who addressed reporters on Sunday after a meeting of the Progressive Governors’ Forum in Abuja, said: “There is no infraction between me and the National Chairman of the party. It is all in the press. It is all fake news.”

    There have been reports of a crisis between the governor and National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and this got to a head when the governor failed to show up for the annual Okpekpe in May.

    However, President Muhammadu Buhari reportedly intervened in the crisis last week, bringing the two together. Sources close to the governor confirmed the President’s intervention, saying “the President called them and they have been talking. I can tell you that there is nothing serious going on between them really”.

    Read Also: Obaseki finally opens up on reported quarrel with Oshiomhole

    About his second term bid, Obaseki said: “My second term is left to God and the people of Edo State. At the end of the day, the people will decide, depending on how much they see that we have added value to their lives.

    “As you know, we are the only APC state in the Southsouth and Southeast. So, we want to be a flag bearer for what APC should represent as a party.

    “I have things like industrialisation, ensuring economic growth by building production centres, industrial parks and ensuring that government serves as an enabler. That is key for us. So, we have been spending time improving the business climate so that people can do business easily. Hopefully, that will have a snowball effect on the region.

    “I promised to create 200,000 jobs in our first four years in office. As at the last count, we have exceeded 90,000 and we are still counting. As you are aware, these jobs are coming in from various aspects of industries, technology, ICT, education, the services, and now, we are investing in production hubs where we bring electricity, water and security into specific locations and invite people to come and set up in those particular locations.

    “What we are doing, which is different and which we are very excited about, is education reform, particularly basic education reform. We have trained over 10,000 teachers in our basic education system, and introduced technology. Now, we can track when teachers are in class, we can track when students are in class and for about 200,000 kids in our basic schools, we have supplied them almost one million books.”

  • BoI, devt agencies, others tour facilities for MSMEs in Edo

    Stakeholders in the investment sector, including officials of the Bank of Industry (BoI) have toured facilities set up by the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Edo State to improve the ease of doing business and increase productivity.

    The team of investors were conducted around the Edo Innovation Hub, Edo Production Centre in Benin City and the Edo Food Processing Cluster in Ehor, to get a glimpse of the different hubs for innovation, manufacturing and agro-processing available to SMEs in the state.

    The BoI team was led by Mr Ayo Gbajumo. The tour was held with support from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ).

    Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Skills Development and Job Creation, Mrs. Ukinebo Dare, said the stakeholders were in the state to assess how the state government is assisting entrepreneurs to activate their ideas, start and grow businesses through the use of technological innovations.

    She said at the Edo Innovation Hub, in Benin City, the Obaseki-led administration has provided training opportunities for youths to develop skills in graphics and web design, artificial/business intelligence, data analysis, among others.

    During the stop at the Entrepreneurship and Agribusiness Development Center in Ehor, Dare explained that the Ehor Centre houses the Edo Food and Agric Cluster (EDOFAC), which was initiated by the state government to empower rural farmers, with the training programme focused on enterprise development, food processing, marketing and distribution.

    The governor’s aide added that the goal of the stakeholders’ tour was to provide an overview of the opportunities for investment in different sectors of the state’s economy, noting that government was playing the role of the driver of the process so that more private organisations would participate without hindrance.

    At Ehor, the BoI team inspected the shoemaking and poultry farming sections, where trainings were ongoing.

     

     

  • Obaseki finally opens up on reported quarrel with Oshiomhole

    Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki has broken his silence on the alleged infraction between him and his predecessor and National Chairman of the Party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, describing the reported disagreement as fake news.

    Obasek, who also spoke on his second term bid form the first time, says whether he gets a second term in office or not depends entirely on God and the people of Edo state, especially on how much they think he has impacted their lives.

    The Edo state governor, who spoke with news men on Sunday night in Abuja shortly after attending a meeting of the Progressive Governors Forum, however did not elaborate on the two issues.

    When asked about the infraction, Obaseki simply said “there is no infraction between me and the National Chairman of the party. It is all in the press. It is all fake news.”

    There has been reports in the media in recent times of a crisis between the governor and his former boss with many insinuating  it got to a head when the governor failed to show up for the annual Okpekpe 10 km race in May.

    President Muhammadu Buhari reportedly intervened in the crisis last week, bringing the two together to discuss.

    Sources close to the governor confirmed the intervention of the President on the alleged crisis, saying “the President called them and they have been talking. I can tell you that there is nothing serious going on between them really”

    Read Also: Obaseki commiserates with Edo APC Youth Leader

    Asked about his second term bid, the governor who was believed to be the engine room of Oshiomhole’s governance in Edo state, simply said: “My second term is left to God and the people of Edo state. At the end of the day, the people will decide depending on how much they see that we have added value to their lives.”

    On his programme for the people of Edo state, Obaseki said: “As you know, we are the only APC state in the entire South South and the south east. So, we want to be flag bearer for what APC should represent as a party.

    “I have things like industrialisation, ensuring economic growth by building production centres, industrial parks and ensuring that government serves as an enabler. That is key for us.

    “So, we have been spending time improving the business climate so that people can do business more easily in the state. Hopefully, that will have a snowball effect on the region.

    “I promised to create 200,000 jobs in our first four years in office. As at the last count, we have exceeded 90,000 and we are still counting. As you are aware, these jobs are coming in from various aspect of industries, technology, ICT, education, the services and now, we are investing in production hubs where we bring electricity, water and security into specific locations and invite people to come and set up in those particular locations.

    “What we are doing which is different and which we are very excited about is education reform, particularly basic education reform in Edo state.

    “We have trained over 10,000 teachers in our basic education system, we have introduced technology. Now, we can track when teachers are in class, we can track when students are in class and for about 200,000 kids in our basic schools, we have supplied them almost one million books.”

  • Obaseki commiserates with Edo APC Youth Leader

    The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has commiserated with the family of Edo State Youth Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon. Valentine Asuen, as the Asuen family celebrates the 20th remembrance anniversary of late Mrs Victoria Asuen.

    In his tribute, Obaseki said late Mrs. Asuen lived a life of love and service, which she bequeathed to her family and community, noting that all who had contact with her would continue to cherish memories of her.

    “The indefatigable stalwart of our great party, the APC, on behalf of myself and government of Edo State, I felicitate with you on this auspicious occasion in honour of your beloved mother,” the governor said.

    At a reception held in honour of late Mrs Asuen, the Edo State APC Youth Leader, Mr Valentine Asuen said his late mother lived a life worthy of emulation as the virtues she instilled in him and his siblings had made them successful in life.

    Read Also: ‘Edo committed to clean up project’

    He noted, “We are celebrating our mother’s 20th remembrance because she impacted a lot of virtues in my life and that of my siblings. She gave us sound education and made us Christians. I am successful today because of the good morals and virtues she taught me.”

    A thanksgiving service for late Mrs. Asuen’s remembrance anniversary was earlier held at the Living Faith Church, in Benin City. Late Mrs. Victoria Asuen who was born in 1942, was a successful business woman until her death in 1999.