The founding DG of PDP Governors Forum, Osaro Onaiwu has called on the Oba of Benin, Omonoba n'Edo, Uku Akpolokpolo, Ewuare II and the Benin traditional Council to call Edo-born businessman, Hosa Okunbo to order.

Onaiwu said there was serious need for the Palace to caution the controversial businessman for using his affiliation to the Palace to perpetrate political bickering.

He reiterated that Benin royal stool is nonpartisan and non-partial and thus, no individual, no matter his standing in the society must be allowed to drag the revered Benin heritage into the murky waters of partisan politics.

Onaiwu further urged the traditional council ask Hosa Okunbo tender an unreserved apology to all Edo citizens for masterminding the fracas at the Oba palace when the Governors and Chieftains of the PDP across the country visited the palace as a prelude to Godwin Obaseki's campaign.

He further called on the Oba to also rein in the leader of "lions" and "tigers" in Edo State, Tony Kabaka so that the "Hunters" would not be forced to neutralise them.

The founding Director General of PDP Governors Forum, Earl Osaro Onaiwu has commended the Oba of Benin, His Royal Majesty (HRM), Omo N’ Oba N’ Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Ewuare II, for this forthrightness and frankness.

Reacting to some emerging facts from the Oba's meeting with major political gladiators in the state, Onaiwu said the Oba has done well as an upright and unbiased father who is worthy of the royal throne bequeathed to him by his ancestors.

He noted that Oba Ewuare's call for peace in the imminent Edo State governorship election and his unbiased condemnation of ensuing political violence and its proponents is a testament to the king's nobility and love for his people.

In a related development, Onaiwu called on security agencies to continue to beam their searchlight on former National of APC, Adams Oshiomhole and Mr. Osagie Ize-Iyamu who is the guber candidate of the APC.

He asserted that the duo have a well documented track record of violence trailing them, hence it would not be out of place to keep them on a security watchlist.

He further alluded that both men, along with an assumed sponsor, Capt. Hosa Okunbo do not appear to have shown remorse even after the charge of the Oba of Benin for a peaceful election. He called for serious cautioning of these men.

Onaiwu stated that they are known aggressors who would not take a quarter of the harassment they've meted on Governor Godwin Obaseki at the palace. He wondered how brutish they would have been wielding power if they were the ones in office presently.

The founding Director General of PDP Governors Forum, Earl Osaro Onaiwu has commended the Oba of Benin, His Royal Majesty (HRM), Omo N’ Oba N’ Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Ewuare II, for this forthrightness and frankness.

Reacting to some emerging facts from the Oba's meeting with major political gladiators in the state, Onaiwu said the Oba has done well as an upright and unbiased father who is worthy of the royal throne bequeathed to him by his ancestors.

He noted that Oba Ewuare's call for peace in the imminent Edo State governorship election and his unbiased condemnation of ensuing political violence and its proponents is a testament to the king's nobility and love for his people.

In a related development, Onaiwu called on security agencies to continue to beam their searchlight on former National of APC, Adams Oshiomhole and Mr. Osagie Ize-Iyamu who is the guber candidate of the APC.

He asserted that the duo have a well documented track record of violence trailing them, hence it would not be out of place to keep them on a security watchlist.

He further alluded that both men, along with an assumed sponsor, Capt. Hosa Okunbo do not appear to have shown remorse even after the charge of the Oba of Benin for a peaceful election. He called for serious cautioning of these men.

Onaiwu stated that they are known aggressors who would not take a quarter of the harassment they've meted on Governor Godwin Obaseki at the palace. He wondered how brutish they would have been wielding power if they were the ones in office presently.

The Oba of Benin, His Royal Majesty (HRM), Omo N’ Oba N’ Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Ewuare II, has berated former national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole for disqualifying Obaseki from the governorship race.

The revered Monarch also called on political actors in Edo State to eschew violence and embrace peace and tolerance ahead of the forthcoming gubernatorial election in the state.

The monarch made the request on Wednesday in his palace in Benin City, during a peace meeting with political actors to ensure a free, peaceful and violence-free gubernatorial poll, come September 19, 2020.

He noted: “This crisis led to the disqualification of Governor Obaseki from the APC. The same credentials that qualified him in the last four years couldn’t qualify him again.

“Please don’t turn the state into the city of blood. I appeal to the two gladiators and all politicians to ensure peace and stop the shooting and violence in the state.”

Oba Ewuare II also condemned the attack on Governor Godwin Obaseki and other guests, notably governors who came to pay homage at his palace during the flag-off of Obaseki’s reelection campaign.

According to the monarch, “For sometime now, Edo State has been in the news politically for the wrong reason as political gladiators have been fighting dirty with their war of words.

“I want assurances from you people, to me and the people of the state, of a peaceful atmosphere in Edo State. I don’t like the ugly incident outside my gate when the Governor was embarrassed by some persons.”

The traditional ruler continued: “Let there be peace in Edo. Let us have a good relationship like that of former President Goodluck Jonathan and President Muhammadu Buhari. We are begging all the political gladiators in Edo to give peace a chance; don’t kill yourselves; stop the bitter statements to each other.

“Your home and families are here, so give peace a chance. We are all afraid that the state will burn to ashes. Please we need peaceful election in the state. I want to see that you are not paying lip service to the traditional throne; the Benin throne is not partisan.

“I am entitled to a vote; it’s my right as a citizen to vote, but I can’t vote for one candidate, because it is just like I have already taken sides by voting for one person; this is the sacrifice I have to make to ensure there is peace in Edo.

“Please communicate this meeting to your foot soldiers that they should stop the shooting and ensure the state is peaceful for all. I want both of you to work together for a peaceful election.”

In his remarks, Obaseki thanked the monarch for his fatherly role in ensuring that the state is peaceful before, during and after the election.

The governor said, “As the Executive Governor and Chief Security Officer of the state, I have sworn to uphold the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and protect the lives and property of our people.

“I will never encourage violence as it would be irresponsible of me to do anything which would lead to breakdown of law and order in the state.”

“I am not a violent person; I don’t have such tendencies. I have not participated in any form of violence and I will not. I have committed enough resources to ensure safety of the citizens,” he added.

The Founding Director General of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors Forum, Earl Osaro Onaiwu has lambasted controversial politician and former Aviation minister, Femi Fani-Kayode for suggesting they are many Nigerians who do not wish for Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to become Nigeria's president.

In an interview with celebrity media mogul, Dele Momodu on Monday, Fani-Kayode said people are no longer looking in the way of Atiku for the 2023 presidency.

But in a strong rebuttal, Onaiwu described Fani-Kayode's statement as baseless assertions fuelled by promordial sentiments and devoid of empirical facts.

Onaiwu said with Fani-Kayode's outburst, the real intent of his unsolicited junket around state governors is coming to the fore. He challenged the ex-minister to name who are indeed "bankrolling" him and stop grand standing.

He further alluded that Femi Fani-Kayode was in no way in a place to determine who Nigerians want as their president or not. He advised him to concentrate on copping political relevance in his native Osun state before aspiring for relevance on the national scene, having frittered away the goodwill showered on him in the past.

Mr. Osaro Onaiwu then advised PDP Governors not to allow Kayode cause disaffection in their fold knowing that he has been blacklisted by the Nigeria Union of Journalists in the country .

The South South Buhari Anti-corruption Group has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to set up an investigative committee to probe the Board Chairman of Ocean Marine Solutions (OMSL), Capt. Hosa Okunbo, over fraud allegation of $18 million.

The President was also asked to probe Capt. Okunbo over N9 billion contract with the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) Ltd, which payment was made and contract not executed.

The Anti-Corruption Group, in a statement by its President, Imafidon Peter Odion stated that the call became imperative following several allegations of fraud against Capt. Okunbo.

Recall that few days ago, there was a report in the media space that some directors of OMSL had raised issues over misappropriation in the company.

The directors had raised issues over the inability of Capt. Okunbo to account for 18 Million Dollars recently received as payment for services rendered to the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation NNPC.

It was reported that a source within the company had disclosed that the directors were aghast when they found out that the said payment was made to OMSL and was spent by the Chairman without their knowledge.

It was further reported that at a board meeting to clear the air, the Chairman said he spent the money bribing people in the Presidency and the National Assembly, through the offices of the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Nigeria Police and the DSS.

Recall that OMSL has been in the news lately after the Secured Anchorage Area SAA they operate for incoming vessels into the Nigeria waters was recently cancelled by the management of the Nigeria Ports Authority with the support of the Transportation Minister, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi resulting in a petition of threat to life against Capt. Hosa Okunbo by the MD of the Nigeria Ports Authority, Hadiza Bala Usman after an encounter with him during the Senate hearing on the matter.

Aside the OMSL issue and the allegation of fraud, the anti-corruption group gathered that contract worth N9 billion was awarded to Capt. Okunbo, which had been paid for and the contract not executed.

consequently, South South Buhari Anti-corruption Group, has called on President Buhari to set up a high powered probe panel to investigate NNPC to unravel the truth behind the contract scam.

The group also reminded President Buhari to note that his government is anchored on anti-corruption matra, adding that his position against corruption will go along way to convince Nigerians that he actually mean well for the country.

The anti-corruption group added that corruption fight shouldn't be selective, but should be fought with vigor irrespective of who is involved.

"This is the time President Buhari should raise the banner of the fight against corruption, somebody should be used as an example to serve as deterrent to others, the anti-corruption group said.

Benin City has produced many wealthy men, some of blessed memory like, Chief Francis Edo Osagie of Motel Benin Plaza, Chief Osakpanmwan Odia the rubber merchant, Chief Iredia the fish merchant of Blessed House fame, Pa JBS Bazuaye who is believed to have substantial stake in Coca Cola Nigeria, Chief F.S Uwaifo of Bight Engineering, Chief Ojomon, Agidingbi sawmills, Chief Obasuyi of Obayantor and many others whose legacy edifices and businesses dot the landscape of the City. One name you cannot fail to mention if you are writing the history of modern Benin is Chief Gabriel Osawaru Igbinedion, the Esama of Benin who in so many ways put his native Okada on the world map. I am sure many people do not know that the origin of describing commercial motor bikes as Okada derived from his Okada Airline in the 80s and 90s with people comparing the ease of getting to their destination riding on a motor bike to how Okada Air spread over the skies of Nigeria at that time. Add that to his present-day accomplishments of a University and teaching hospital, how much more a cultural icon can anyone be?
All of these men carried themselves with some level of decorum and self respect that if you never had any reason to cross their path, you will not know who they are. Even Chief Igbinedion with all his flamboyance and elegance we are now finding out has been extremely modest compared to his achievements and world recognised status. Even in aiding his son Lucky Igbinedion to become governor of Edo state, it was with persuasion and not coercion. I have gone into this history because the people of Edo state and indeed Benin City have never witnessed the aggressive assault of a nouveau riche forcing himself down the throat of the public for acceptance as we are experiencing with Capt. Hosa Okunbo.  Okunbo has essentially in the past couple of months gone on a mission to not only subvert the will of the people, but has carried on like they do not have a choice and their voice does not matter because in his bubble, money is all it takes to control the destiny of a people.
All the rich people we know in Nigeria and Edo state in particular have all supported political candidates one time or the other, but we have never seen them competing for the stage with the candidate which has left many to ask who will be the governor? Capt. Hosa or Pastor Osagie Ize Iyamu? Perplexing to all is the media onslaught on the people by the businessman. He is the one printing banners for himself, releasing videos of himself, personalized magazines of himself, sponsoring self-adoring articles of himself, advertorial praising himself, sponsoring musicians and traditional orators to sing and speak in reverence of him. How this is a support of his candidate is a mind bender. This unravelling is a case study for psychologists and very right-thinking people have been scratching their heads at the journey Capt. Hosa has recently embarked on.
Conventional wisdom would have told him that in so forcefully supporting his preferred candidate with the only selling proposition being money, Capt. Hosa has made it clear to all and sundry that Osagie is his lackey and so far the people of Edo state have shown a formidable resistance to that idea and are sticking with their belief in the institutional reforms that Gov. Godwin Obaseki has commenced and would need another term to entrench.
Capt. Hosa has released videos addressing himself as a stakeholder and statesman, professing love for the Binis and the people of Edo state. The million-dollar question is why did he not support Eng. Chris Ogiemwonyi in the APC primaries if he indeed meant well? That is a man who retired as General Manager in NNPC with a managerial pedigree and a glowing history of many visible business success stories. That was obviously the most qualified person after the sponsored disqualification of Obaseki from the APC primaries. It is safe to therefore suggest that Capt. Hosa has inferiority complex issues as he is only comfortable with those that survive on his benevolence. Ogiemwonyi like Obaseki I am sure have never had cause in both their personal and professional history to go ask Capt. Hosa Okunbo for any financial favour. Otherwise we would have heard by now via Hosa’s numerous “news” outlets. It is common knowledge that Osagie Ize Iyamu has been perpetually plugged to Capt. Hosa Okunbo’s feeding bottle for over a decade hence the comfort that he can control him if Osagie is governor to the detriment of the welfare of the majority. Why is Capt. uncomfortable around independent Edos even when they have shown they have attributes that are people friendly?
There is also a jealousy and envy factor at play here. Indeed, Godwin Obaseki was like many successful Edo men and women in corporate Nigeria who come into Benin quietly and leave quietly and are unknown to many residents of the city except family. Are these not the same people Godwin Obaseki mobilized to raise the money that began Oshiomhole’s political journey in Edo state? These Edolites in corporate Nigeria are wealthy and of course the personal restrictions and professional responsibilities of their jobs many times leave no room for excessive junkets and lascivious lifestyles. So, it is true Obaseki was unknown to us until Oshiomhole introduced him as his candidate in 2016. Suddenly the unknown Obaseki is taking the shine off the Capt. who thinks he is the best thing that has happened to Benin people since Plymouth bread. Inside his hubris and self-aggrandized filled bubble, urged on by his lazy handout seeking followers, he is the saviour of the Binis and a popular Gov. Obaseki is an injury to his ego. Capt. Hosa Okunbo is just finding out that he underestimated the world view of the average Edo man and woman because his judgement has been clouded by those whose only mission around him is what they can get now and do not care what happens to him in the course of this narcissistic travelogue. There exists in his head a popularity competition with the Governor that only he is aware of while Gov. Obaseki is going about his work for the Edo people.
Another worrisome angle is the purported closeness of Capt. Hosa Okunbo to the very esteemed and revered palace of the Oba of Benin. Once again, the wise will expect that for that particular reason alone he ought to be of good behaviour and comportment all the time, because any action can be subject to all sorts of interpretation and will rub off on the palace. To whom much is given, much is expected. Not all of us are privileged to be close to the palace, but it amounted to an abuse of that relationship when he invited his followers to that infamous show of shame at the gate of the palace. We have had chiefs and individuals as it is the general responsibility of every Edo man and woman supporting the palace with all forms of homage, but none as far I can remember have taken that to the low point of turning the environs of the palace grounds to a political battleground when they are not even the one on the ballot. That is an afront that no Bini man can stand and of course automatically works against his lapdog, Osagie that is on the ballot.
As I kept typing away, I just remembered the impact some other Binis have had on their people. Chief Eribo of Ribway factories had a rubber production factory and a textile mill which employed hundreds of people and Efionayi Iyayi was a timber magnate who built a school in his native Egba community and transformed the lives of his people. These men never gave us cause to ask them what they were looking for in return for their deeds and endeavours because it was obvious to all that they cared deeply about the upliftment of generations that will come after them. Capt. Hosa Okunbo’s sinister conduct lately cannot be overlooked without asking the question; what is he looking for? My conclusion is that I see a man who wants to be loved and accepted by all means, a man who thinks he needs to prove a point to people who do not care, but unfortunately, he is seeking this love and relevance in the wrong ways and in the wrong places. I hope he learns from the lives of some of the men I have mentioned here who have proven that leaving a lasting impression on your people is not carried out on the back of private jets, conditional offerings  and political desperation.  
 Oghogho Omoruyi Writes from Benin City

The founding Director General of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors Forum, Earl Osaro Onaiwu has asked the Edo State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Hon. Johnson Alalibo to step aside.

This call is coming on the heels of a startling revelation that the REC was an aspirant in the 2015 Bayelsa State gubernatorial election under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Onaiwu said the discovery of Mr. Alalibo's political slant has cast a heavy shadow of doubt on his neutrality and capacity to act as an unbiased umpire in the September 19 Edo State Governorship election.

He warned if the INEC REC does not immediately recuse himself from the process, the Commission's headquarters should redeploy him far away from Edo State to avoid chaos and total breakdown of confidence in the electoral process.

Onaiwu affirmed that the people of Edo State cannot afford to have a tainted and disillusioned arbiter superintend over a most critical election in the history of Edo State.

The Edo First for Growth (EFG) group has flayed a statement credited to Niger Delta Youth for Sustainable Democracy, a group it described as "fake and faceless".

The group, in a statement circulated by a certain blogger alleged that the Edo State Governor was planning to "liquidate" Edo controversial businessman, Hosa Okunbo, threatening that Nigeria would boil if any harm happens to the businessman.

But in a strong rebuttal, the EFG asserted that Hosa Okunbo is only seeking public sympathy for his badly battered image having been fingered in a desperate and despicable bid to disturb the peace of Edo state for his selfish agenda.

The spokesperson of the group, Yusuf Amedu said nobody is after Captain Hosa Okunbo. He stated that the man is only crying wolf because defeat is already staring him and his band of marauders in the face after investing heavily in the fast failing "Ize-Iyamu for governor" project.

The group cautioned Okunbo to stop using faceless groups to blackmail the Edo State government led by a peaceful Governor Godwin Obaseki.

He further noted that Okunbor could only be afraid of his own shadow. He is the one who has been indicted of sponsoring thugs and arming "lions" and "tigers" to wreak havoc against political opponents. He is the one engaged in shady deals which has landed him in trouble with the NNPC and the directors of his company, Ocean marine.

The EFG advised the businessman to stop chasing shadows and make peace with those he may have fleeced in his shady deals, saying any cheeky tactic to distract Godwin Obaseki would fail.

The group further assured him that Edo State is bigger than any cantankerous individual but the governor is rather focused on how to deliver on his second term mandate which the good people of Edo state cannot wait to hand him come September 19, 2020.

The Inspector General of Police has been called upon to immediately carry out a ruling of a High Court sitting in Benin City. The Court ordered the investigation of some members and members-elect of the Edo State House of Assembly for committing acts tantamount to treasonable felony among other charges.

The Attorney General of Edo State had dragged the police to the High Court in Benin in a suit number B/141M/20 seeking for the court to grant an order of Mandamus for the police to investigate and subsequently charged the aforementioned, together with a retired deputy clerk of the House of Assembly with charges such as treasonable felony, unlawful gathering and impersonation.

Speaking on the development, a founding Director General of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors Forum, Earl Osaro Onaiwu urged the Inspector General of Police to immediately see to the arrest and investigation of the indicted fellows.

He declared Edolites were apprehensive about continuous freedom of the people who sought to effect a coup on a democratically elected government in Edo State. He noted that the actions of the members-elect in trying to overthrow the legally recognised leadership of the House was capable of throwing the state into anarchy.

Onaiwu enjoined the Nigerian police to demonstrate that it keeps no sacred cows in the mandate of ensuring law and order in the country.

Following the verbal assault by a former Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode, on a journalist, Eyo Charles, in Calabar, Cross River State, the publisher of Governors Mandate Newspaper, Earl Osaro Onaiwu, says the former minister should redeem of what little is left of his integrity and apologise to the journalist community.

He also stated that journalists should be protected, celebrated and not abused.

Onaiwu, a former Director General of the PDP Governors Forum, said the vicious attack of the ex-minister on the journalist was unwarranted and signposts a dangerous trend where the elite think the journalist is for picking.

“It is embarrassing to say the least that a former minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria will descend into the arena of touts to attack a journalist in the performance of his constitutional guaranteed role of holding officials, in and out of government, accountable is shocking,” Onaiwu said in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.

According to him, the unremorseful of Fani-Kayode speaks to a wider psychological issue which should not be taken lightly.

He noted that for a man who has basked in media limelight to so denigrate a member of the journalism profession shows that he has scant regard for journalism and journalists.

“It is still something of a wonder that the purveyor of the assault is yet to come to terms with how he has brought himself really low before the eyes of responsible members of society shows that he ought to be pitied, rather than condemned.

“At this rate, we should all pray for the former minister because an innocuous question to attract such umbrage tells of something more profound,” the statement said.

The publisher called on society, especially the elite, to appreciate the critical role journalists have played to gain independence and have continued to exhibit for the return and sustenance of democracy in the country.

He expressed the fear that if the media is weakened and psychologically damaged, Nigeria’s democracy would become even more fragile and shallow.

The Founding Director General of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors Forum, Osaro Onaiwu has welcomed the invitation and questioning of some persons believed to be political thugs by the Department of State Services (DSS). This is even as he called on the police and DSS to also call their alleged enablers for interrogation.

Onaiwu said, with the weight of evidence available to the public, the trio of Capt. Hosa Okunbo, Adams Oshiomhole and Osagie Ize-Iyamu cannot be extricated from the activities of identified thugs threatening the peace of Edo State. He recalled that the alleged sponsor of violence at the Oba's palace has been identified with the help of an eye-witness, urging the police to arrest him before doing more damage to the polity.

Commending the DSS for grilling some arrowheads of political thugs codenamed "Lions and Tigers", Onaiwu said it was relieving to see that the security agent was alive to its duties and has taken the peace and security of the State more seriously.

He urged the security agencies not to relent as there appears to be much more dangerous criminals lurking around the state on the backing of the aforesaid trio, scheming to subvert the will of the people in the September 19, Edo governorship elections.

Onaiwu insisted that Okunbo, Oshiomhole and Ize-Iyamu must be thoroughly interrogated on their roles in the pockets of violence that has rocked Edo State since the start of the 2020 electioneering process. He asserted that only when the sponsors of political violence and malpractices are tamed would the majority repose their confidence the the political process.

For some time now, I have been following up on the developments back in my well beloved homeland, Benin City, despite being away here in New York for so long. I am aware of the contestations for the leadership of the state and the dimension the electioneering process has taken. It is saddening that our democratic system has brought out uncultured elements into the play.

I must state quickly that many of the issues one comes across leaves so much to be desired. Right from my days of self awareness at Baptist High School, we Binis pride ourselves as noble, civil, and hardworking people who cherish our cultural, communal and family values dearly.

It is in that light that I find one disturbing article quite distasteful. The article which was written by one Emmanuel Odigie, apparently at the instance of one Idahosa Okunbo sought to cast aspersions on the integrity of a Bini family that I hold in high esteem - the Onaiwu family.

My admiration for the Onaiwus does not stem singularly from him acquaintance with a few folks from their family(yes Efosa Onaiwu (now Mrs Oyakhire) and Odeh Onaiwu (now Mrs Okoro) were my contemporaries at Baptist High School), but I grew up knowing the family as deeply religious, disciplined and amiable. Their father, Pa Samuel Onaiwu was a foremost educationist who instilled good values in his children as well as other wards who came in contact with him.

It was then a rude shock to read despicable things about the Onaiwus from the said Idahosa Okunbo. I have tried to recall, albeit unsuccessfully, the background of Idahosa. I cannot vividly place the Okunbo family in the sphere of reckoning within known families and compounds in Benin City while growing up.

The major popular families then in Benin were the Akenzuas, the Osundes, the Onaiwus, the Osunbors, Bello-Osagies, Lawanis, Obasekis, Ebohons, Ogbemudias, Arokos, Ikhimwins Uzameres, Omoruyis, Aifuwas, Bazuayes, Agbonteans and a few others.

It is therefore not only uncharitable for the writer of that piece to claim Idahosa Okunbo sponsored the burial of Pa Onaiwu but it is also uncultural and ungodly. I know for sure that the man trained his children well. Many of them are well to do and and leading their successful lives in their chosen field of endeavour across the globe. They wouldn't have committed the responsibility of their father's burial to an uncouth stranger.

Osaro Onaiwu who the writer seems to be crossed with is just the 9th of the 13 children of Pa Onaiwu. If anything, he is not in a place to solely bury his father, less so receive sponsorship from any quarters for the same purpose. That is a weighty assertion to make. Let no one dishonour the memory of the dead.

By the way, the Osaro Onaiwu that I know was amiable to everyone in school. He was a high-flier in Bendel State school sports and also literally society. Osaro was generous to a fault as a young student so it is hard for me to find the correlation with the dark brush the writer is trying to tarnish him with.

Even the matter of later Dr. Osagie Onaiwu's health which the unfortunate writer referenced is a sad reminder of the callous and unconscionable disposition of whoever inspired that discourse. We all knew Osagie grew up with sickle cell. His medical frailties didn't stop him from reaching the zenith of his calling, graduating as the best medical student at the University of Lagos during his time.

I reckon Osagie attained over 60 years of age before succumbing to the cold hands of death. Could Idahosa Okunbo in good conscience lay any tangible claim to the late Osagie's wellbeing when his family had always managed his medical issues till his last days? When did Hosa pay his medical bill? Who did he pay to and how much? Even if he offered any form of assistance at any time, should it be a subject of reference in a condescending manner? What kind of crass pettiness is that?

By my assumption, Idahosa is contemporaneous with Osaro who is by far my junior hence I am in a place to advise or caution both of them. Politics is fickle. That they may currently be on dissenting paths as regards their political choices but that does not confer the toga of indecency on them.

People should be able to disagree without being disagreeable. Going personal or rousing family feuds just because of political differences is an unwise and uncouth thing to do. I advise Idahosa Okunbo to disassociate himself from that distasteful article and seek forgiveness from God and the family.

Even if it is true that he had been of support to any member of the family at any point in the past, it still does not warrant him making condescending claims against the integrity of the Onaiwu family.

By the way, our culture and tradition encourages social support to family and friends as much as it abhors debasement of beneficiaries. There's nothing a man has that has not been bestowed on him by providence.


Dr. Mrs. Uwaila Edeki Johnson, New York

I read Mr. Louis Odion’s half-hearted case against the re-election of Governor Godwin Obaseki as governor of Edo state with surprise and nostalgia. Surprise that he is senior Technical Assistant on Media to President Buhari, meaning it must be a glorified position on paper as he clearly has not been effective and nostalgia because the write up reminded me of my school days when you needed to write an essay and you were short of substance and decided the only way out was to crowd the essay with prose, whereas one could never deceive the experienced examiner.

The emergence of the write-up itself is not a surprise because the feature came almost immediately on the hills of Pastor Osagie Ize Iyamu’s meeting with editors in Abuja where one thousand dollars was shared to each of them and Mr. Louis Odion was there present. Given today’s exchange rate, that is nearly five hundred thousand Naira, therefore I can understand the hurry to put something in print to justify the brown envelope and perhaps demand for more. I am sure the coming days will see an uptick in positive reports about Ize Iyamu in the media.

Unfortunately for them most of the write ups will be as vacuous as Odion’s because you cannot have much to say about Ize Iyamu in trying to sell a man whose CV is thin just as and you cannot have much to say against Godwin Obaseki because of his rich CV and obvious performance as governor. The people of Edo state have made up their minds and it is clear that a national media outreach by the Ize Iyamu camp is an exercise in futility and another opportunity for the media to cash out.

This response to Louis Odion will be very short as I cannot rebut prose, but substance and his piece has a lot of substance deficit. Mr. Odion attested to sitting in executive council meetings with Godwin Obaseki when Adams Oshiomhole was governor. This is the period Godwin Obaseki was the head of the economic team. As I read up to that point, I could not find anywhere Obaseki was found wanting in the discharge of his assignment, instead it is on record that Oshiomhole largely gave him credit for being his brainbox when he was governor.

This means Odion had a front row seat to Obaseki’s pedigree during the Oshiomhole years. Juxtapose this with the person Odion thinks should replace Obaseki and you will find that Mr. Louis Odion does not have much to sell about Osagie Ize Iyamu apart from being a professional politician in the last twenty years, no election victory under his belt nor a private sector success story to talk about.

Now you see why Odion’s write up was belaboured as the only case he could make for Ize Iyamu is that it might just be his time having tried for so long and not necessarily because he can vouch for any substance. For an Edo man to reduce his choice to such thick reasoning is sad.

I guess you cannot sell beyond what is placed in front of you. Beyond an ambition to become governor of Edo state Osagie Ize Iyamu doesn’t have anything to offer, his simple agenda of which the candidate is not sure of the meaning of the acronyms depending on the time of the day is at best a mash up of tired political campaign clichés.

I thought our revered Oba Ewuare II already made clear that he is not for nor against anyone and whomever the people chose, the ancestors have told him to work with.  Why is Mr. Odion still dragging our Oba’s name into this mix, just to find a way to give weight to the title given to Osagie by the Otaru of Auchi? Unbeknownst to Mr. Odion he only succeeded in amplifying why the Oba of Benin is held in high reverence as he will never stoop to the levels of the Otaru’s political title offerings. Ize Iyamu’s title on election day will be “this is his own'' as the Otaru has one vote and his subjects have theirs.

If Mr. louis Odion has any quarrel with Governor Obaseki’s achievements he should take it up with his colleagues in different federal government agencies, Afterall he is an employee of the federal government. He can start with the National Bureau of Statistics that has declared that the unemployment rate has dropped in Edo state under Gov. Obaseki. After complaining at NBS he can make the short drive to Wuse in Abuja to the office of Nigerian Electricity Management Services NEMSA to verify if they indeed visited Ossiomo Power plant in carrying out their role ensuring the 55 Megawatts station meets all standards before inauguration. I am very sure with his influence in the Presidency, he can track the federal delegates that recently came on a verification visit to the nearly completed modular refinery in Ologbo.

These and many others are the results of the “opaque” MOUs. Louis can also chose to ignore the news of when the gainfully employed youths of Akoko Edo came out to debunk Mr. Akerele’s claim of where are the jobs, or he could have been more credible if he had visited Akoko Edo and got first-hand knowledge instead of peddling the statement of an unknown Akerele in Akoko Edo. Projects and progress cannot be hidden and the people of Edo state are not blind either.

If the communities now benefitting from the multiplier effects of the projects in their communities had caved in to short sighted counsel of people like Louis Odion and opposed locating some of these projects on their land, who would have lost? Only a visionary governor like Governor Obaseki and a people convinced to be part of that vision know that their bare land today is useless if not put to meaningful use.

Which brings me to the people management argument against Godwin Obaseki by Odion. While giving the governor credit for eradicating the menace of Agberos and the dreaded Community Development Associations, Odion cunningly took the credit away by advocating for integration of the miscreants. Miscreants are miscreants and they do not have a place in government. They can avail themselves of all the skills acquisition programs that the government of Godwin Obaseki have so successfully engineered. Neo Nazis cannot be part of modern-day Germany’s government nor can the grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan be named as a cabinet member in the American government.

Mr. Louis Odion here again inadvertently made the case for us again reminding us we cannot return to the government propelled by agberos and beholden to agberos and if it takes a Governor Obaseki to call a miscreant a miscreant to ensure we continue to enjoy the sanity we have now, so be it.

Mr. louis Odion may have penned his piece with conviction or obvious motivation although the emptiness of his case will suggest the later, but that his is right while the people of Edo state will also exercise their right in returning Governor Godwin Obaseki at the polls on September 19 howbeit without the benefit and comfort of a fat brown envelope filled with dollars.

Oghogho Omoruyi Writes from Benin City

The founding Director General of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors Forum, Earl Osaro Onaiwu has once again called on security agencies in the country to rein in controversial candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Edo State gubernatorial election, Osagie Ize-Iyamu and a gang of political thugs whom he described as "Lions and Tigers"

Speaking on Friday, Onaiwu insisted that except those threatening the peace of Edo State are tamed, the possibility of having a peaceful, free and fair election on September 19 is impossible.

He urged the Inspector General of Police and the Director General of Department of State Services (DSS) to invite Ize-Iyamu; his "lions and tigers" who were seen in a viral video with him; and their supposed sponsor, Capt. Hosa Okunbo for questioning and subsequent detention over the spate of violence that has rocked the state in the past weeks.

He asserted that those who perpetrated the violence at the Oba's palace are still roaming the streets free, noting that the inaction of security agencies has further emboldened them to continue their dastardly acts.

He recalled the sad attack of the governor's convoy while on campaign in Etsako West as an example.

Edo First for Growth (EFG), a political pressure group has raised alarm over an alleged plot by the opposition in Edo State to engage the services of Russian nationals to hack the servers of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in order to compromise the forthcoming governorship elections in their favour.

Disclosing the development to our correspondent, the spokesperson of the group, Yusuf Amedu said the group has received damming intelligence reports confirming that operatives of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State have procured the services Russians to launch the cyber attack on the website of the electoral umpire. He stated that the ungodly plot is being bankrolled by a controversial Benin business mogul.

The EFG urged the Federal Government and Intelligence Agencies to beam its searchlight on the Russian embassy with a view to vetting strange arrivals of their nationals and their mission in the country.

Amedu called on the government not to treat the allegation with levity because if left unchecked will be an affront on the sovereignty of the nation.

"A situation where local election will be influenced from another country will not augur well for the peace, prosperity and security of our people", he concluded.

Three men now stand between the people of Edo state and a government that is for the people. The fact that all three men have fallen out with each other one time or the other, but are now united in this anti people enterprise leaves you with only one conclusion that the motive is evil as the voice of the people is the voice of God.

The first of the trio, Pastor Osagie Ize Iyamu, as a politician has found himself severally with opportunities to run for any other public office in Edo state up to the Edo South senatorial seat, but there is just something he fell in love with at Osadebey House when he was Lucky Igbinedion’s Chief of Staff and later SSG that made him decide it is either he is governor or nothing else.

The desperation for that job that now aligns him with the man that has maligned him to the heavens is a cause for worry to the average Edo man or woman that he may have come to a personal judgement that the only way he can join the big league is to have access to the resources of Edo state as executive governor.

Afterall only an Edo ostrich or a Benin ostrich in particular will deny that the assets Pastor Ize Iyamu has today ranging from choice properties in Benin to his failed farm were all acquired when he was in government or in control of campaign funds anytime he meandered his way into heading any campaign including his own.

If he says this is a lie let Pastor Ize Iyamu show us how many properties he owned before serving Lucky Igbinedion.  Most of us were born and bred in Benin City and we know from what period of his life people started pointing at Osagie Ize Iyamu’s properties even the one he bought and inherited his older brother as tenant, gave him an eviction notice through the agent only for his brother to find out that his Pastor brother was the new landlord trying to evict him. That is the kind of heart the aspiring governor has.

It is simple logic that if as Chief of Staff and SSG he amassed so much then if he can become executive governor he can finally rub shoulders with the who is who of Edo state as his claim to fame still remains as Lucky Igbinedion’s bag man and political operative who somehow has convinced his followers that he knows how to win elections, a claim the evidence does not support so far. The desperation is scary enough for Edolites to know he does not mean well and can see through his pedestrian platitude filled simple agenda.

Capt. Hosa Okunbo on the other hand can best be described as Pastor Osagie Ize Iyamu’s mugu because whatever the outcome of the elections, the Pastor always has a way of keeping enough money to himself. However, Capt. Hosa is a willing mugu as it is, because people around him have even concluded that there must be something supernatural at play that makes it such an easy job for Ize Iyamu to always convince him that making him a governor will be an easy task.

Although the other theory is that with all the heat and attention Capt. Hosa’s businesses are getting at the federal level, maybe it will not be a bad idea to make Ize Iyamu the governor of Edo state and have a financial back up just in case the federal money dries up. Many have sworn that the first project Ize Iyamu will embark on as governor is to announce a PPP arrangement with Wells Farms owned by Capt. Hosa.

So, all of Capt. Okunbo’s denials and not so deft open secret denials all come down to a business investment buy bank rolling Osagie’s campaign in order to become an economic stakeholder in the affairs of Edo state.

The reason the above is plausible is because the question on everybody’s lips is why is a man described by many as a philanthropist not interested in whether a majority of the people of Edo state are happy with the work Gov. Godwin Obaseki is doing for the state?

You would think since he is a giver, he will be impressed that at last someone has emerged that is doing a good job alleviating the sufferings of the people. But alas Capt. Hosa Okunbo is just like the average guy whose personal interest is paramount to him and does not care if Obaseki has touched a multitude of Edo people as long as he has not done his bidding.

The problem is Obaseki is not in the category of those who have gone to Capt. Hosa for favours so there is nothing to threaten him with. The governor’s independence bothers Capt. Hosa and so for him to achieve his economic takeover of Edo state, Obaseki must go. So, all that story of Obaseki causing damage to his business is a ruse and a ploy to manufacture a reason to turn the people against the governor.

After Rotimi Amaechi disclosed that he was responsible for stopping Capt. Hosa’s SAA contract at the ports you would expect any other person with genuine intentions to apologize to the governor and make up. Of course, that will not happen because there was never a quarrel, but a strategy to cause outrage against Obaseki.

Even if it is true that Obaseki has been bad to Capt. Hosa, what is our business as the larger Edo population? Edo people do not care if Governor Obaseki is a bad man or a good man as long as he is delivering on his promises and making life better for the electorate. Do you think the people living along St. Saviour or Lucky Way care about Capt. Okunbo’s hurt feelings compared to their delight that getting home is no longer a nightmare?

Capt. Hosa Okunbo will have to matter more to all Edolites for him to successfully turn the people against the governor. He is now finding out that he is not as known beyond his immediate Benin circles as his ardent sycophants would make him think.

Adams Oshiomhole needs the APC governorship victory more than the pair of Pastor Osagie Ize Iyamu and Capt. Hosa Okunbo. As earlier stated, win or lose the candidate gets to be a couple hundreds of millions richer while Capt. Hosa at least has the rest of his business to go back to and take time to recover. A loss for APC in this election means the political demise of Adams Oshiomhole and a journey into a state of irrelevance.

What use will he be to a Bola Tinubu’s Presidential ambition or any other aspirant for that matter when he gifted his state to the PDP. No only will his phone stop ringing, many people will block his number. That will be extreme punishment for a man with his kind of boisterous hubris. So when you see him kneeling everywhere, it is not because he is supporting the new leaf Ize Iyamu, it is simply to still have a bragging right and still market himself to the national APC on top of the original reason he fell out with Obaseki in the first place, which is to guarantee that himself and so called party chieftains have access to state funds.

This is one election that has left outsiders confused as they will think APC has three governorship candidates in Edo state going by how the trio have gone about their individual campaigns. So when a Billionaire doesn’t have any qualms throwing his gates open to thugs and low lives thus casting aside his supposed elitism, a low achieving ambitious Pastor stops at nothing even when it is directly antithetical  to the tenets of his religion and then marry this to the survival fight of a drowning politician, it can be nothing but an evil gathering with the welfare of Edo people not even remotely close to the reason for the get together.

All three are already sharing government positions within their camps. Only fictional thoughts will make me picture the coming implosion if, only if, but God will not let it happen anyway.

Unfortunately for these men, Edo people have shown they are wiser and have realised even the rich and popular can be selfish. A performing Governor Obaseki has laid bare this subterfuge and has given the people reasons to question the motives of these men whose opposition to Governor Obaseki are all personal and not based on policy differences. 

Anything that is designed to rob a people of good can only be an evil construct. Edo will stay liberated for those who are with us are more than those against us.

Oghogho Omoruyi writes from Benin City

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has granted an ex-parte motion for substituted service on the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate in the September 19 governorship election in Edo State.

A Chieftain of the APC, Barr. Charles Ude had dragged his party and its gubernatorial candidate before the court in a suit no FHC/ABJ/CS/839/2020. Ude is seeking the disqualification of Mr. Ize-Iyamu as the candidate of the APC in the Edo election. He maintains that the party did not conduct a legally recognised primaries to choose its candidate.

During the commencement of hearing, neither the APC nor its candidate made an appearance. This prompted the plaintiff to file for an ex-parte to serve the defendants through substituted means, a prayer which Justice Taiwo Taiwo granted.

The hearing of the matter is billed for September 1, during which the court is expected to give a ruling on the disqualification suit.

The defendants in the suit include the APC, Mr Osagie Ize-Iyamu, Adams Oshiomhole, Victor Giadom and Hillard Etta.

A group under the aegis of Edo First for Growth (EFG) has chided an Edo-born lawyer and former member of Federal House of Representatives, Ehiogie West-Idahosa for using proxies to defend his professional misconduct.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the group via its Spokesperson, Yusuf Amedu said what well meaning Edo people expect from him is to accept that he goofed and immediately make moves to atone for the needless political upheaval he caused the state.

Going down the memory lane, the group said everyone expected that West-Idahosa would be more guided in his political and professional conduct judging from his long years at the bar and at the National Assembly.

The group said it was disheartening that the lawyer of such experience could throw caution in the wind, preferring to further his own selfish expediency at the cost of the peace of Edo state.

It posited that West-Idahosa should have considered his career at the bar when he wrote a misleading letter to the Honourable Minister and Attorney General of the Federation to interfere in the Edo Assembly matter that was already sub judice.

The group reckoned that he should have been more circumspect about orchestrating illegality in Edo Assembly if he considered that becoming a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) meant so much to his career, wondering why he is now crying about sabotage when he drew blood first.

EFG maintained that Barr. West-Idahosa's ignoble role in that saga is a gross professional misconduct warranting stern reprieve as it could have led to anarchy and wanton loss of lives and properties of Edo people had it not been foiled by the vigilant government of Godwin Obaseki.

The group admonished the former lawmaker to quickly correct his grave errors instead of casting aspersions on noble Bini men like Earl Osaro Onaiwu who only made a media statement against West-Idahosa's action after some other aggrieved parties had already petitioned his professional body.

EFG asserts that it was a fellow legal practitioner in the name of Victor Ikem Aguguesi, not Osaro Onaiwu that petitioned the Chief Justice of Nigeria as the Chairman of the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee.

The statement concluded that the fact that Ehiogie West-Idahosa is a Bini man does not mean that another Bini man like Osaro Onaiwu or any other Elder Statesman cannot caution him when his actions put the political careers and lives of other Bini people and Edo people in general at risk.

“You cannot let praise or criticism get to you. It is a weakness to get caught up in either one” John Wooden
“Don’t let compliments get to your head and don’t let criticism get to your heart” Lysa Terkeurst
“If you are helping someone and expecting something in return, you are doing business not kindness” Anonymous

I am not sure who Emmanuel Odigie is, whether a sponsored writer or not, it really does not matter. Only the truth matters at this time in our history, when the fight over the soul of Edo state from the hands of self-seeking, regressive and dark elements is one that must be won. Edo cannot return to agberos and agbero enablers.

Since Emmanuel Odigie is awash with knowledge about Osaro Onaiwu and his relationship with Capt. Hosa Okunbo, I will try in this right of reply to remind him of some things he may have left out rather conveniently as I know both men and will objectively state the issues as I see them without writing like a performer seeking to please an audience of one; the payer.

It is not news that Osaro Onaiwu supports the re-election of Governor Godwin Obaseki while Capt Hosa supports his opponent, Pastor Osagie Ize Iyamu. Do not be deceived, that is the matter at stake. It is credit to Osaro Onaiwu that every statement he has made in reaction to Capt Hosa’s actions, advertorials and videos strictly addressed the issues as it affects the campaign and the people of Edo state as he sees it. Never once has he come to the low of dragging family into the discuss.

It is evident that money sure doesn’t buy class. The American supreme court ruled that money is an expression of freedom of speech which is a classic example of how Capt. Hosa is showing his support for his candidate. If Osaro Onaiwu does not have the money Capt has, can he not be allowed to use his voice to support Gov. Obaseki?

I am forced to believe that the sin Osaro has committed is to dare oppose the “god”, Capt. Hosa Okunbo. I did not know Edo has become so repressed that because a man is wealthy and has perhaps been of help to his friends at one time or the other, they cannot oppose him politically, because in Odigie’s book of values, accepting friendship charity from Capt. Hosa means you have sold him your soul, your self esteem and your belief in any cause unless he approves.

Conditions should have been attached to the gifts. This is a warning to other friends of Capt Hosa like me who have accepted social favours that friends do for friends that he keeps a ledger of his charity that he refers to anytime you disagree with him. We have a song in Bini that calls God “Orhuese ne gbokan”(the giver that doesn’t taunt). Thank God Capt. Hosa is not the good Lord, I am sure Emmanuel Odigie will be advising him to shut down Osaro Onaiwu’s oxygen. Thank God Capt. Hosa has nothing to do with the progress Osaro Onaiwu has made in his political life. Osaro as the youngest political appointee to the late Gov. Ogbemudia, Special Assistant to the late Admiral August Aikhomu, campaign strategist to General Buhari’s campaign in 2003, becoming DG of the Nigeria Governors’ forum, Special Adviser to Senate President Bukola Saraki and Chief of Protocol for the Atiku Abubakar Presidential campaign in 2019 all happened without Capt. Hosa’s knowledge or assistance. Thank God for that.

I have known the Onaiwu family for as long as I have known Capt. Okunbor and I will ask them to forgive me if what I will say now sinks me to the same low as Odigie and his classless mentor whose giving is transactional and held as leverage over the receiver. I have been a witness to how members of the Onaiwu family have been of help to many people with the humble resources they have and I have never heard them go to the public square to announce their help.

Even Capt will be surprised to hear that his boys, CY and Chris Okaeben started out as beneficiaries of Osaro and Etinosa’s large hearts, but you will never hear the Onaiwus say a word of this history. The late great Dr. Osagie Onaiwu whose brilliance is widely acknowledged and nicknamed Fountain of Knowledge during his days in medical school at the university of Lagos had his beloved memory stained by people who can only dream of his intelligence and integrity.

Those of us close to the Onaiwu family know Dr. Onaiwu was born with sickle cell and yet that did not prevent him from achieving his goals and anyone reading Odigie’s idiocy in print will think Capt Hosa is the one that kept Dr. Onaiwu alive from birth till be passed on at 62. Friends of Capt Hosa beware, any contribution to your parents’ funeral or child’s wedding has been shown to be a purchase of your voice and unquestioned loyalty even if it means leading you to be part of destroying our heritage as Binis.

This classless behaviour of expecting something in return for any gift is perhaps what gave Capt. Okunbo the audacity to mobilize thugs to the gate of the revered Oba’s palace to attack Gov. Obaseki and his guests. In Capt’s low mentality, his thinking is after all he supports the palace financially and so he should be able to bring the thugs he mobilized from his house to fulfil the boast he made to some of us that he will disgrace Obaseki at the palace.

Odigie also made a play of words describing Osaro Onaiwu as ungrateful. I will highlight a few instances I am aware of and allow the reader to judge who is an ingrate here. There are certain favours that money cannot buy. For example, was Osaro ungrateful when he stayed in Benin with Capt Hosa for weeks planning his daughter’s wedding without demanding a dime or further back in history was Osaro ungrateful when he was taking food to Capt Hosa then an NDLEA detainee in Ilupeju?

I wonder how many friends made that shuttle. What about taking Capt’s girlfriend to Ikoyi prison for conjugal visits when Capt Hosa was moved there? Was Osaro also ungrateful then? So if Capt Hosa was there for the Onaiwus, maybe he alone knows why and people like Emannuel Odigie who chose Capt as a mentor in good times should also learn to know more about Capt. Hosa’s bad times and the people that were there for him at such times and examine how much gratitude he has shown such people like Noel Ojei, Capt. Jide George, Sonny Asemota, President Goodluck Jonathan etc whose stories are for another day.

The late Lucky Omoluwa put his property up as a guarantee when Capt Hosa was barred from travelling by the federal government in 2015 and when the man died, Capt Hosa did not even bother to show up at the man’s funeral. Is that not an exemplary ingrate?

Emmanuel Odigie mentioned the Ikeja days in his malicious write up, but failed his history test which I will help him correct here. In Ikeja in the 90s, Osaro Onaiwu was already an employer of labour with known businesses like Dreamline Cellular, Green Cab Services and Garbage Speed Clearing, but interestingly this is the same era that Capt. Hosa Okunbo had no visible means of income despite his verbose lifestyle.

Like I said I am a friend of both men and I have a better history of both that I cannot exhaust today, but I cannot stand by and allow political differences to be used as an excuse to denigrate a respected and humble family. Osaro Onaiwu is not a saint, but Osaro Onaiwu has never been detained for any criminal activity nor has he had any reason to procure judgments to try erase a history of encounters with an agency of the law.

Let civility reign for the sake of mutual respect. You do not embark on a smear campaign when you know the smear on you is inexhaustive. Accepting that friends and family can differ in politics is not only maturity, but civilised. Well hey, when Odigie’s mentor now romances agberos, maybe the civilised part is long gone.

Osadolor Aigbokan writes from Ikeja, Lagos State

A group under the aegis of South South Leaders of Thought in Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has commended Cross River Governor, Prof. Ben Ayade for winning the recently conducted Local Government elections for the Party.

Co-chair of the group, Elder Peter Akan, in a statement released in Uyo on Thursday said the Governor has once again proven himself as a serial winner who has kept the stock of the party rising since his assumption of the reins of power in Cross River State.

Akan said the group remains proud of the achievement of the governor in delivering lofty dividends of democracy to Cross-Riverians.

Meanwhile, the group in the statement frowned at attempts by some saboteurs within the PDP in Cross River to collaborate with external forces to truncate the authority of Gov. Ayade as the leader of the party in the state.

The Leaders of Thought warned the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP not to allow itself to be used as an instrument of destabilization of Cross River PDP.

The group said there will be dire consequences if the party hierarchy succumbs to the influence of "an external overlord" to determine the issues concerning Cross River PDP.

Wondering why Cross River PDP matter would be treated differently from other states with sitting governors, the group challenged the NWC to come clean on its intentions.

The group enjoined Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa who has just been appointed to mediate in the issues not to allow his integrity be tainted by desperate expansionists. It said as a fellow governor, Okowa would treat the leader of the PDP in Cross River State, Gov. Ben Ayade with the honour and dignity he deserves.

A founding Director General of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors Forum, Earl Osaro Onaiwu has called on the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee and also the Disciplinary Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to apply stiff sanction on a lawyer, Ehiogie West-Idahosa.

Onaiwu said the call has become necessary over some incessant misconduct by the lawyer.

He listed an action of the barrister in misleading the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation(AGF), Abubakar Malami, through a petition, to issue a sub-judicial instruction to the Nigerian Police Force over the matter of Edo State House of Assembly.

Mr. Ehiogie West-Idahosa had written to the Office of the AGF,asking for his intervention in the crisis that is rocking the State Assembly despite the fact that the matter is currently before a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt. The AGF has consequently asked the Inspector General of Police to provide security for dissident members-elect of the Assembly.

Onaiwu declared such action as totally irresponsible and unbecoming of a practitioner with fairly long years at the bar.

He further noted that Mr. West-Idahosa, against standard rule in the legal profession stood as both a prosecuting and defence counsel to Mr. Adams Oshiomhole in the same matter in the same court, being the Federal High Court.

Onaiwu recalled that Mr. Ehiogie West-Idahosa was the counsel to Bishop Osadolor Ochei when the latter dragged Oshiomhole to the Federal High Court over fraud and contract inflation in the construction of Edo Specialist Hospital in 2018.

He said the same West-Idahosa duplicitously transmuted into Adams Oshiomhole's counsel when the former governor sued the Attorney General of Edo State over the same subject matter, obtaining an ex parte to stop Oshiomhole's probe.

Onaiwu reckoned that Osagie West-Idahosa's conduct in the aforementioned matter gravely contradicts Rule of Professional Conduct on conflict of interest and duty of counsel to uphold the rule of law.

He therefore asked the regulatory bodies in the legal profession to de-bar Mr. West-Idahosa to serve as a deterrent to other members of the noble profession who may want to offer themselves to politicians as instruments of anarchy and injustice.

Earl Osaro Onaiwu, the founding Director General of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors Forum has described a controversial Edo-born businessman, Captain Idahosa Wells Okunbo as a brazen, double-faced and ruthless deceiver.

Onaiwu's strong remark is coming on the heels of an address made by the businessman to the people of Edo State.

In the video address which was shared online, Okunbo who is a supporter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the September 19, 2020 governorship election, Osagie Ize-Iyamu enjoined the people of Edo State to shun violence in the said election.

But in a strong rebuttal, Onaiwu described Okunbo's address as a "deft move of an hardened beguiler", apparently to cover his tracks. He wondered why an unabashedly partisan man who has been caught pants down funding and arming cultists and political thugs to cause chaos all over Edo state would now turn around to be sermonising Edo people to eschew violence.

Onaiwu stated that the Edo businessman cannot extricate himself from the violence that erupted at Oba's palace during the visit of PDP's delegation to the royal palace. He further alleged that Capt. Hosa is also heavily fingered in instigating the forceful takeover of the State House of Assembly, albeit a failed adventure.

The former Governors Forum boss therefore called on discerning Edo residents not to pay any attention to Okunbo's address as it is a quest to use reverse psychology to shortchange them.

He said Capt. Hosa does not even possess the locus to address Edo people in the first place as he is just a stakeholder in APC and not the generality of Edo state.

A political pressure group, Edo First for Growth has blasted a former governor of Lagos State and National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The group declared that Tinubu's "bullion van politics" will not work in Edo State.

The group described remarks against Governor Godwin Obaseki as "an unwarranted and unwanted intervention of a meddlesome interloper and a failed overlord.

Following the crisis that rocked the Edo House of Assembly on Thursday, which culminated in the governor marching down to the State Assembly Complex to foil planned change of the house leadership by the APC, Tinubu described Obaseki as a "dictator" who was deploying "a strong-arm tactics" to thwart constitutional democracy.

But in a counter reaction, Yusuf Amedu, the group's spokesman asked Mr. Tinubu to hold his peace and detach himself from Edo matters. He stated that Mr. Tinubu was only embittered that his party's coup detat against Edo people failed woefully.

The group declared that Tinubu has no moral right to call any politician a dictator as there is no worse political dictator in the nation's political space than him.

The group further wondered why Tinubu was so interested in annexing Edo just as he pocketed Lagos, warning him that "Edo is not Lagos". It said Tinubu will fail in his expansionist plan just as he has failed to expand beyond Lagos all along.

The group finally invited Edo people and the general public to notice the desperation of insatiable godfathers like Tinubu and Oshiomhole saying it was now clear that their driving inspiration is how to corner the patrimony of Edo people.

A founding Director General of Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP) Governors Forum, Osaro Onaiwu has charged the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) to declare its position on the membership status of Osagie Ize-Iyamu, the vexed candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the forthcoming governorship elections in Edo State.

He noted that with the emerging developments and revelations, it was time the Church declared the current status of the controversial politician if truly he is still a Pastor on their roll call as he claimed.

Onaiwu stated on Friday that Edo people and indeed Nigerians are worried that the RCCG has apparently turned itself to a shed for cultists and thugs.

He said this follows from the church's curious silence even when an acclaimed cultist who has been placed on record to be meeting with cultists and thugs to foment trouble and cause electoral violence is still proudly parading himself as a pastor of the church.

The former governors' forum boss wondered how any true church can still be proud to be associated with Ize-Iyamu who has been seen severally holding meetings with cultists and thugs in a bid to truncate the electoral process and cause violence in Edo state.

He warned that the RCCG cannot afford to be silent at a time like this, stating that failure by the church to denounce and expel Osagie Ize-Iyamu and his works of darkness will remove any doubt that the church is indeed shielding cultists, thugs, political rascals and looters of the nation's commonwealth.

It urged the RCCG to cast out the wolf amongst its fold who are using God's name as cover to perpetrate evil in the nation.

Embattled candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Osagie Ize-Iyamu has been berated for instituting a libel suit against a blogger, Rita Ebiuwa.

Ms. Ebiuwa had shared an interview where a former Vice Chancellor of University of Benin, Mrs. Grace Alele-Williams was said to confirm the nefarious activities of the APC candidate as a deadly cultist during his time as a student of the institution.

But in a reaction, a founding DG of PDP Governors Forum, Earl Osaro Onaiwu berated Ize-Iyamu for the action. He stated that the controversial candidate had no moral right to sue anyone for sharing information about his sordid past when he hasn't sued Adams Oshiomhole who brought those weighty allegations into public consciousness.

Onaiwu stated: "It is just a cowardly and diversionary move by Osagie [Ize-Iyamu]. Has he sued Adams Oshiomhole who called him unprintable names?

"If he is indeed certain that he is being maliciously defamed he should drag Oshiomhole to court to clear his name. He should not seek to muzzle people he feels he can oppress.

"For me, Ize-Iyamu has no moral right to sue anyone until he has sued Oshiomhole and the more he goes after innocent citizens, the more he will be ridiculed."

A founding Director General of the Peoples' Democratic Party Governors Forum, Earl Osaro Onaiwu has lambasted the ousted Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Com. Adams Oshiomhole and an Edo-born controversial businessman, Capt. Hosa Okunbor for the attack on the Edo State House of Assembly on Thursday.

Addressing newsmen in Abuja on Thursday, Onaiwu said the actions of the thugs sent by Oshiomhole and Okunbo is an affront on democracy and a dangerous signpost of imminent violence in the Heartbeat State if not nipped in the bud.

He called on all Edo citizens to resist any attempt from any quarters to subvert their will while also calling on leaders of thought across the nation to rise in condemnation of the fledgling brigandage being perpetrated by these agent provocateurs.

Onaiwu said it has become clear to the controversial APC governorship candidate, Osagie Ize-Iyamu and his desperate sponsors that they cannot win the elections on a level playing ground hence their resort to violence and intimidation.

He said what the aggressors fail to understand is that no matter how many dirty tricks they may play, Edo people will not fall for their antics and will resist them to the last blood, if it gets to that.

A group known as Edo First for Growth has asked the Edo State Traditional Council to place a curse on instigators of violence at the palace of the Oba of Benin penultimate weekend.

The group through its spokesperson, Yusuf Amedu said the sanctity and reverence of the ancient Benin tradition must not be ridiculed for partisan considerations. He urged the council to speak up for the preservation of culture and for the peace of the kingdom.

"Politicians who take the benevolence of the palace for granted must not be allowed to go scot-free. There must be consequences for their shameful acts.

The palace is our common patrimony, it is the symbol of our honour and good heritage. Even outsiders rever the vicinity. Political moneybags who think they exert enough influence to perpetrate violence around the palace must not be exempted from the punishment of the gods", he said in a passionate statement sent to our correspondent.

Onaiwu urged the traditional rulers to remain steadfast and non-partisan in the discharge of their responsibilities. He also urged Edo citizens to be on the look-out for saboteurs who may want to cause chaos in the state due to the increasing rejection of their highly tainted governorship candidate.

Governors Mandate Network has condoled with the governor of Borno State, Prof. Babagana Umara Zullum over an attack on his convoy on Wednesday.

Founder of the Network, Earl Osaro Onaiwu said the incident was a sad reminder that the nation still has a long way to go in its quest to totally crush insurgency. He urged security agencies, especially the military to buckle up.

Onaiwu said a situation where even the chief security officer of a state is not safe calls for serious concerns. He urged Governor Zulum not to be deterred by the setback but rather be encouraged that the prayers of the people he selflessly serves will see him through.

The convoy of the governor was attacked at Baga, a fishing town in the northern part of the state that shares borders with Lake Chad. He was on his way to some internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in the northern part of Borno when the incident happened.

Special Adviser to Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State on Media, Isa Gusau, said his principal embarked on a trip to the Baga area of the state based on information provided by soldiers that they have liberated the town from the hold of Boko Haram insurgents. He confirmed that the governor and his team escaped the attack unhurt.

A founding Director General of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors Forum, Earl Osaro Onaiwu has congratulated the newly elected president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olumide Akpata.

Onaiwu described Mr. Akpata as a worthy Edo son that he is proud of. He noted that with his election, Olumide Akpata has re-illuminated the values of Edo people as brilliant, dutiful, cosmopolitan, and accomplished professionals.

He stated further that Mr. Akpata being the second person to emerge as NBA President in the recent years shows that majority of Edo citizens are noble people who are well regarded in their chosen endeavour, saying this is a departure from the label of rogues, squanderers and thugs which some selfish politicians like Oshiomhole, Capt. Hosa Okunbo and Ize-Iyamu want to foist into the polity of Edo state.

Earl Osaro therefore urged Olumide Akpata to seize the opportunity of his new office to serve as a leading light to millions of Edo youths in general and others in the law profession in particular.