The Office of the Governor of Edo State has in the past few days been inundated with various public comments, criticisms and (in some cases) opportunistic posturing by the political opposition party regarding a “Grazing Bill” currently said to be under consideration by the Honourable Members of the Edo State House of Assembly. The Government would wish to make the following facts clear to concerned members of the public:           (i)      The Government has absolutely no knowledge of or participation in the said bill particularly as same is certainly not an Executive Bill and did not emanate from Government House;           (ii)     Preliminary enquiries indicate that the said “Grazing Bill” is a private member bill currently undergoing consideration by the Legislature in furtherance of its power and responsibility in that...

*As Court Sentence Mother of Four to 15yrs Imprisonment By: Patrick Ochoga, Benin City A notorious human trafficker, Vivian Ehioze, her brother, Pastor Endurance Ehioze, of Heavenly Ambassadors Ministries Inc, both specialises in trafficking of young girls from Benin City to Russia for Prostitution have been arrested by men of the Nigeria Police Force, Edo State Command. Endurance who is based in Benin is said to use the Church as a fertile ground to lure young girls in search of greener pastures into prostitution with the collaboration of the sister in Russia. Their arrest was made possible based on a tip-off by an Edo based Non-Governmental Organization, Initiative for Youths Awareness on Migration, Immigration, Development &Re-integration, IYAMIDR, which deals with issues of illegal trafficking. One of the trafficked victim, Miss Florence Abu, (24) who was recently reunited with her family is currently seeking urgent assistant from spirited individual and government said af...

Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo state has denied having a hand in the Anti-Grazing Bill, which has passed its second reading, at the Edo House of Assembly, noting that the government’s position on the bill would be made known at the public hearing. This was according to a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr John Mayaki, who also explained that comments from the opposition party, People’s Democratic Party (PDP), were severely misguided and stemmed from lack of proper investigation. Mr Mayaki said, “What PDP, in its characteristic manner, has failed to realise is that the Anti-Grazing Bill in the House of Assembly, which they have declaimed so much on, did not emanate from the executive, and is even a Private Member’s bill. “The government is well-aware of the terror concern in the state, but we are also making swift security moves to address the situation. The governor has called security meetings and even attended one in Abuja recen...

By John Mayaki Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, on Friday, brought to the fore the need for Nigerians to continue to live in unity despite their political affiliations, while also emphasising that the difference in the ruling parties of both Delta and Edo States does not divide them. This was in Asaba where Governor Obaseki attended the inauguration of Bridge FM, a radio station aimed at uniting people and bridging every divide in the society, which was commissioned by Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, Governor of Delta State. Continuing, Governor Obaseki explained that political affiliations should not be considered more important than the unity the people of both states shared because in spite of their differences, both states shared the same heritage and were one. He said, “Edo and Delta people are one. We used to be one state (Bendel). So political affiliation cannot divide us.” Meanwhile, he commended the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Radio station, Dr Henry Nzekwu...

The blame for what Nigeria has become falls on you and me. Not Buhari, not Jonathan, not Obasanjo and definitely not Abacha. Our wickedness stinks to the heavens as we go about our daily lives, pulling down everyone and everything to become rich. We import substandard products, fake drugs and expired baby food unfit for human consumption and we have the nerve to complain about leadership? We even steal from widows, orphans, and refugees. We take their food and sell it for profit. No conscience. Nothing is sacred. No one is spared. We build substandard roads, schools, houses, hospitals, all for profit at the expense of human life;an invaluable item which all our profit and contract sum cannot buy. One would think this behavior is reserved for urchins but it would surprise you that this is the character of many decent looking people who appear to be normal but are not any better than Boko Haram members. They are church members, Muslims, husbands, wives and sadly youths. We pervert ju...

Former Vice President and Chieftain of All Progressives Congress, Atiku Abubakar commends the resolution of the APC Progressive Governors Forum which called for restructuring and true federalism, saying that the issue transcends religion and ethnicity. The former Vice President also describes as patriotic the convergence of positions around restructuring by leaders and stakeholders from diverse regions of the country noting that it confirms that he (Atiku Abubakar) was not just a lone voice in the wilderness in the inevitability of restructuring of Nigeria for the good of all. The former Vice President, in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday by his Media Office, explains that the agitations for secession would not have arisen if the country had shown sincere readiness to address the underlying problems that feed the agitations by separatist forces. According to the Waziri Adamawa, the restructuring debate transcends the ambition of any single politician in Nigeria, and that any at...

By John Mayaki “How was my presentation?” Gov Obaseki asked his Press Crew. "Hope you followed through?" It is said that a picture is worth ten thousand words. However, a cursory look at the picture accompanying this article will not reveal the entire story herein portrayed. The setting was the boardroom of Edo State Government House where His Excellency, Governor Godwin Obaseki had just finished a mind-blowing PowerPoint presentation to the management team of Bank of Industry, BOI, led by MD/CEO, Olukayode Pitan, on Wednesday, June 21, 2017, convincing them on why Edo was an investment destination of choice. As is customary, visitors are accompanied downstairs by His Excellency for a group photograph. However, on this rare occasion, the governor “abandoned”, as it were, an entourage of top bankers with money to plough into industrialization of the state. He walked up to his Press Corps to have a brief chat with them. Then he asked: “How was my pre...