The Executive Council of the Edo State Government on Wednesday rose from its weekly Exco Meeting with a strong condemnation of the state deputy governor, Comrade Philip Shaibu, who last week dragged Governor Godwin Obaseki and four others to an Abuja Federal High Court over an alleged plan to impeach him as the deputy governor of the state.
Stating the position of the Edo State Exco at a press briefing held after the Council rose, the state Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Mr Chris Osa Nehikhare, said that the Exco was saddened by the action of the deputy governor, and condemned such in strong terms.
“Exco has condemned in very strong terms the position that our deputy governor has taken by taking the state governor, house of assembly and others to court over his impeachment claim, which was not a thing before he went to court.
Exco condemned it and is saddened by the way this has happened and we all expressed our disappointment on what is going on. And I think Edo people should have the right to understand that what is happening is abnormal, we do not condone it, it is not acceptable to us but then, he is an individual”, Nehikhare said.
On if the Council made any attempt to reconcile the deputy governor and his principal, the commissioner responded by saying that what Shaibu did amount to breaching the oath of allegiance and secrecy he took, warning that such attracted consequences.
“What he did is a breach of trust; a breach of the oath he swore to. Some of the things that are contained, some of the documents he put in the public space, are sensitive government documents and are what he swore to keep as secret.
He breached what he swore to protect which is the truth, and there are consequences when that happens. But as politicians, we always look for a way to resolve these issues because we want everybody to always come and be together as politicians. But what he has done is a breach of trust. Again, as politicians, we never shut the door”, Nehikhare added.
The commissioner disclosed that in line with the assurance Governor Obaseki gave to the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) during his warning strikes the previous week, the state government had set aside the sum of N500 million to be given to the vulnerable citizens of the state at N20,000 per person, beginning from September, as palliative to cushion the biting effects of the removal of fuel subsidy and the rise in the prices of fuel.
While adding that the N500 million would be taken from the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), Nehikhare assured that the state government had a reliable database of the poorest of the poor in the state, compiled between 2019 and 2021 in conjunction with the World Bank.
“What Exco resolved is that we should revalidate and review the data. With the E do State Residency Cards and the National Identity Number (NIN), we have an effective and efficient database that has enabled us to identify the very vulnerable in the state.
When the review and the revalidation are completed, we shall begin to disburse the sum of N20,000 every month to the 314,000 households and the over 100,000 persons in the database.
We need to emphasise that the N500 million is not from the federal allocation but from the IGR of Edo State. The people paid the money and that is why we are taking from it to cushion the effect of the economic hardship because there is no government without the people”, he intoned.
On security, Nehikhare disclosed that the state government was training 15,000 volunteers in the state’s vigilante group to strengthen security in the state and make Edo State the safest state in Nigeria.
“We are currently training 15,000 volunteers as part of the state’s vigilante groups. They are being trained at the Ogida Police Training School, which was renovated by the state government.
We are getting their biometrics and reorienting them to think like real security agents. We are proud of what they are doing currently and our aim at the end of the day is to make Edo State the safest state in Nigeria”, he boasted.
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