Edo gov swears in three Judges
The Edo State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has carpeted the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for criticising the current administration of Governor Monday Okpebholo, saying the party lacked today’s governance realities.
Addressing a press briefing at the party’s state secretariat, the Acting State Chairman of the party, Emperor Jarret Tenebe, urged the PDP in the state to stop dragging the Okpebholo-led government, saying that the landmark projects Okpebholo embarked upon like the Ramat Park Fly Over, which the PDP had criticised, was captured in the reviewed budget of 2024 and that the alleged attack on its secretariat was a case the PDP cannot substantiate.
“The ignoble and violent traits of PDP, which they exhibited before, during and after the election, are the signposts of imperialistic disposition which the Edo people shall never pray to experience again,” Tenebe said.
He condemned the call for violence by some PDP chieftains during the campaigns in the event that the party loses the election, a situation he said was enough to question their moral rights to challenge the result of an election they expressed desperation to win.
Tenebe said this call for violence, even before the election, resulted in “the killing of the police inspector attached to the Okpebholo, adding that the “PDP, still celebrating its failure, has now embarked on a self-destructive voyage to criticise the government of Okpebholo that has surpassed Obaseki in eight years, having just been in office for a few days.”
He claimed that the Chairman of PDP at Edo State, Dr Tony Azeigbemi, from the press briefing he had a few days ago, only demonstrated that he has no implementation knowledge of the revised Appropriation Law 2024 of Edo State, where, according to him, “the flyover bridge can be captured in the open-ended parenthesis of the budget, which accommodates for projects of implicit and urgent importance.
In another development, Okpebholo, yesterday, swore in three Judges into the Bench of Edo State High Court at the Festival Hall, Government House, Benin City.
The governor, who supervised the swearing-in ceremony, recalled that in his inaugural speech, he promised to look into the issue of the bench.
The governor noted that 11 months after the National Judicial Council (NJC) made its recommendation, only five of those recommended were sworn in as judges by the immediate past administration, leaving out three, even when they had all been cleared and recommended by the NJC.
Okpebholo said no one should be discriminated against, marginalised or hated for personal reasons, or on account of not having a godfather.
The governor added that as judges of the state High Court, they are expected to uphold high standards of conduct, ensure fair dispute resolution, uphold the rights of citizens, and bring culprits to justice.
