THE All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State has condemned the state government for allegedly refusing to keep to its promise of reopening the state owned Bendel Company Newspapers Company Limited (BNCL), publishers of the Nigerian Observer titles four months after it was closed down.
The Assistant Publicity Secretary of the party in the state, Victor Ofure Osehobo, in a statement made available to newsmen on Thursday in Benin City, alleged that the state government has replaced Nigerian Observer newspapers with Echo Newspaper and employed a 14-man staff for the newspaper.
Osehobo added that the government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with some alleged unknown media firms for the purpose of daily printing and circulation of the medium on a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) basis.
However, in a swift reaction, the Edo State Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare, described the allegations as false and unfounded.
Nehikhare said the old Nigerian Observer Newspapers was undergoing reorganisation while state-of-art digital facilities were being installed.
According to him, the Nigerian Observer Newspaper is being revamped. New state-of-art-digital facilities are being installed and we are bringing in new staff from different ministries to help strengthen it.
But the Edo APC assistant publicity secretary opined that the state governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki, was being economical with the truth, when in June 2022, the government closed down the Nigerian Observer and promised to reopen it in a month after restructuring it.
“Twice the manufacturers have been guests of the government to repair it to no avail.
“But contrary to these promises, the PDP Government led by Mr. Godwin Obaseki has since demolished vital sections of the premises of the newspaper at 24 Airport Road, Benin City, installed a printing press, redeployed all the workers to MDAs and created a newspaper called ECHO to replace the Nigerian Observer.
“The Nigerian Observer was set up in 1968 by late. Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia, as Administrator of the Midwest region. It was one of the assets Edo inherited in 1991.
“This is the situation the Edo State government has found itself in, demolishing the legacy Edo Newspapers, the pride of Edo and turning it to an online newspaper, with an editor who is also a staff of the Ministry of Youth and Gender.”
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