‘No presidential directive to Obaseki to issue fresh proclamation of Edo Assembly’

Fight against human trafficking yielding success in state, says gov
The Edo State Government has declared as false a news report that the state governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has been directed by President Muhammadu Buhari to issue a fresh proclamation to Edo State House of Assembly.

In a statement yesterday in Benin City, Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, Crusoe Osagie, said: “Our attention has been drawn to the story of Monday, July 29, 2019, with the headline: “Edo Assembly crisis: Buhari directs Obaseki to issue fresh proclamation.”

“We wish to state categorically that the story is false as there is no presidential directive to the Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, to issue a fresh proclamation.”“The President Muhammadu Buhari that we know is a law-abiding leader who will not issue directives that contradict the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution.

“The Nigerian 1999 Constitution (as amended) mandates state governors to issue proclamation only once for the inauguration of their Houses of Assembly and the Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has dutifully performed this function.

“The publication is one of the many efforts by agents and hirelings sponsored by entrenched interests in the state whose stranglehold on the state’s resources has been displaced by the people-centric governance model of the Obaseki-led administration.”He, therefore, urged the public and all concerned to disregard the publication.

Meanwhile, Obaseki yesterday said that the state government had recorded impressive gains in the fight against human trafficking, which includes opening up economic opportunities for youths, building local capacity to drive economic growth and strengthening institutional capacity to check the trend.

The governor, who spoke in Benin City during the commemoration of the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, being marked every July 30 by the United Nations (UN) and its sister-agencies, expressed the state government’s appreciation to international development organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that are working with the state to stem the tide of human trafficking.

According to him: “As we mark the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, I want to use this opportunity to appreciate all those that have been supporting Edo State Government’s unrelenting action against the menace. We have recorded impressive gains in the campaign to check human trafficking in Edo State. We will not relent in our efforts.”