CONCORD ONLINE NEWS

  Hendrix Oliomogbe  The Edo State council of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has vowed to resist a bill presently before members of the Edo State House of Assembly, which seeks to repeal or/and amend the  Assembly and Judiciary Autonomy Law of 2021. A statement Thursday in Benin City by the caretaker committee chairman, Prof. Monday Igbafen maintained that the development is a dangerous setback to the struggle for financial and administrative autonomy of the legislature and judiciary in the country. Prof. Igbafen emphasized: “Any Bill seeking to amend or ticker with the autonomy law that would compromise the independence of the judiciary and legislature must be resisted. The control of the purse and personnel of the judiciary and legislature by the executive is antithetical to judicial and legislative impartiality in the state." Prof. Igbafen called on the new Speaker Yekini Idiaye to immediately halt the move by lawmakers to repeal or amend the Law of 2021. He describ...

  By Doris Ogbeifun The key duty of government is to deliver security and welfare to its citizens as enshrined in section 14(2)(b), section 16, and section 17 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended. To ensure quality and effective service delivery to the people, the federal government employs dedicated institutional instruments, monitoring context to provide good governance and dividends of democracy.  Against this backdrop, section 27(3) of the “Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000 empowers ICPC to examine reports or information viz-a-viz suspected crimes as provided under the Act that are “otherwise received” by an officer. With a statutory focus on addressing corruption, bribery, and abuse of office within public sector institutions”. Therefore, it suffices to say that ICPC operates under its statutory obligation to prevent and investigate all malfeasance across the public service. This decree validates the creation of the Co...

Hendrix Oliomogbe  In a move which may not be unconnected with the feud  between The Speaker of the Eso State House of Assembly, Mr. Blessing Agbebaku Monday in Benin City reigned from office in a move which sources say may not be unconnected with a raging feud between him and an influential aide to Governor Monday Okpebholo. In place of Mr. Agbebaku, who stands suspended pending the outcome of investigations of financial improreity and poor leadership against him, is Mr. Yekini Idiaye from Akoko Edo Constituency I. The ex-speaker was slammed with an indefinite suspension following his resignation from office over allegations of corruption and poor leadership. Mr. ‎Agbebaku from Owan West Constituency  resigned  during plenary, shortly after reports emerged of a plot by lawmakers to Kickstart impeachment proceedings against him,  ‎The immediate past speaker, formerly of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was elected as speaker during ex-Governor Godwin Obaseki's...

         Rev. Omobude (m) with the organizers Hendrix Oliomogbe The chairman, Edo State Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board, Rev. Frank Omobude has described sports as a unifying vehicle, which promotes inclusivity, cohesion and foster national integration.  Rev. Omobude spoke in Benin City during a visit to his office by the organisers of a boxing competition between Nigeria and Ghana. A statement by the director of media and public relations, Mr. Jacob Afeinkhena explained that the idea behind the competition is not only for physical wellbeing, but the promotion of cultural and bilateral relations between Nigeria and Ghana. He said: "The promotion of national integration and sporting activities align with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu, which Governor Monday Okpebholo is also implementing through his SHINE agenda."  Rev. Omobude reiterated the determination of the board to support the sports fiesta through fervent prayers for a hitch f...

Afegbua (m) Abdallah left at the briefing  Hendrix Oliomogbe  Edo State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Eugenia Abdallah has given reasons for the delay in moving against the growing army of child beggars, mostly from the northern part of the country in Benin City and other major towns in Edo State.  Ms Abdallah, who spoke along with his counterpart in Information and Orientation, Prince Kassim Afegbua, said the ministry is very worried about the high cases of child beggars from the northern part of the country, but quickly added that it could not act against them because of the potential backlash by fellow northerners, who may accuse the government of profiling and cruel treatment. The growing number of out of school child beggars, aggressively soliciting for arms mostly ply their trade at downtown Ring Road, Airport Road by the post office, Mission Road by Catholic Church Holy Cross Cathedral Benin City and other places. She recalled that the unfo...

Ugbesia (m), others at the meeting               Hendrix Oliomogbe   The chairman, Edo State Traditional Medicine Board, Chief Abudu Godwin Ugbesia has debunked rumours making the rounds of a plan by the board to introduce compulsory registration and exorbitant fees for traditional medicine practitioners, shrines and ancestral worship centres in the state. Chief Ugbesia, who spoke recently in Benin City at an interactive session with traditional doctors and medicine men also announced plans to construct a traditional medicine hospital, where mentally challenged patients would be treated with herbs, before reintegration back to their families. The chairman further remarked that  hectares of land allocated to the board by Governor Monday Okpebholo from the state government forest reserve in Uhunmwonde Local Government Area have been fully cultivated, adding that herbs for the proposed hospital will be sourced from the botanical garden...

‎Hendrix Oliomogbe ‎Edo State Government has sharply criticized the 2026 Phillips Consulting States Performance Index (pSPI), which poorly ranked Edo for having the weakest momentum in its assessment of states across various governance and development indicators, prompting calls for policy review and accelerated delivery in critical sectors. In a statement Monday in Benin City, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Prince Kasim Afegbua, the government insisted that the state’s ranking in the 2026 pSPI was faulty as most of the fiscal, administrative and governance indicators used in the report had already been shaped by policies, budgets, expenditure decisions and institutional realities that predated the current administration. Prince Afegbua reminded that Governor Monday Okpebholo took office on November 12, 2024, after much of the period assessed in the report had already elapsed. He argued that the timing of Okpebholo’s assumption of office ought to have been considered in...