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BREAKING: Obaseki flees Nigeria! *He won’t get far Okpebholo
Signals coming from Benin, the Edo State capital are suggesting that Godwin Obaseki, governor of the state may have fled Nigeria, about three days to the end of his tenure apparently for fear of the unknown, ostensibly on the account of the loss of power and immunity, especially the frosty relationship from the in-coming government of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Monday Okpebholo, who was declared the winner of the September 21, 2024 governorship election on the APC platform, and is expected to take over power on Tuesday, gave the indication on Sunday in a statement, saying that Obaseki, abandoned the airport and escaped from Nigeria through the land borders.
Okpebholo, who however, did not disclose how he came about the details of Obaseki’s alleged escape, but complained in the statement, via Godspower Inegbe, his spokesman that Edo people were worried by the governor’s antics in recent times, particularly his “reckless statements,” explained that Obaseki left on Friday, using a disguised bus.
Giving further details, Okpebholo, while accusing the governor of making false claims to shift attention away from his alleged plan to leave the country through the land borders said Obaseki, in a bid to divert attention to make good his escape, first chased out everyone from the Government House on Friday before bolting away to a yet-to-be known location.
The statement, said: “As of Friday, 8th of November, the whereabouts of Obaseki are unknown. He has chased everyone out of Edo State Government House. He has abandoned governance in the State, and he is on the run. He has escaped through the road out of Benin. He did not pass through the airport.
“If he is as popular as he claims, why did he not use the airport to escape? Instead, he hired a bus and disguised while escaping from Edo State. Obaseki is trying to push out these narratives in order to distract the public. His antics will not work. We know his plans, and we will continue to expose his shenanigans to Edo people.”
The development is coming on the heels of an allegation by the governor on Saturday, claiming that Okpebholo and his team were shielding him away from all activities leading to his inauguration, specifically accusing the incoming governor of nor inviting him to his inauguration slated for next Tuesday.
Before then, Okpebholo who had also accused Obaseki of misappropriating public funds as the state governor, also repeated the same allegation in Sunday’s statement, saying: “According to the unpopular outgoing governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo stole the mandate freely given to him by Edo people. In his usual myopic mind, he wants to change the narratives and set a dangerous precedence.”
“Obaseki will not get away with this misrepresentation. Senator Monday Okpebholo, the Governor-Elect of Edo State, won the 21st September governorship election in Edo State. Obaseki is still licking his wound of defeat and is yet to accept the reality. Edo people, through the ballot, rejected the planned continuation of Obaseki’s satanic government through his glorified stooge, Asue Ighodalo.
“Obaseki is trying to influence the outcome of the ongoing case at the tribunal by making false claims. The attempt will fail like a pack of cards. The Peoples Democratic Party is already challenging the outcome of the election in court. We are therefore worried that Obaseki is in a hurry to pre-empt the outcome of the tribunal by repeatedly making false claims.
“Unfortunately for Obaseki, his baseless claims will not stand. The Peoples Democratic Party and its candidate, Ighodalo, have no case against Senator Okpebholo. The tribunal will soon confirm that. Obaseki should desist from making false claims or face severe consequences that may follow if he does not stop. He will soon lose his immunity and will therefore be forced to face the full wrath of the law if he does not retrace his steps.
“Although Senator Okpebholo is a man of peace, we will not sit back and allow him to keep misrepresenting the true outcome of what happened on the 21st of September. Obaseki will soon lose his immunity and if he continues to make his baseless claims, he will face the full wrath of the law very soon and he will prove his unfounded allegations when he is dragged to court.”
The Federal Government on Friday, announced the change of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway to Bola Ahmed Tinubu Coastal Highway, in honour of the Nigerian President’s “vision” in not only conceiving the project, but actually commencing it.
Dave Umahi, Minister of Works, who made the announcement, recalled how Tinubu conceived the idea of the landmark project, estimated at N15trillion, was inspired by a vision he conceived while serving as governor of Lagos State nearly three decades ago.
Describing the renaming as recognition of Tinubu’s role in initiating the idea behind the 750-kilometre highway, he said: “That highway is named President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Coastal Highway. By the powers conferred on me as Minister of Works, in consultation with my Permanent Secretary, the Minister of State, directors and staff of the ministry, we decided to name it after him because of his dream for it.
“He had that dream about 27 years back as governor of Lagos State. It is one thing to dream and another thing to have the grace of God to actualise that dream. This is one man who dreams and has the grace and divine mandate to actualise that dream,” Umahi said.
The minister also announced that President Tinubu had approved the extension of the Fourth Legacy Highway by an additional 400 kilometres, increasing the planned corridor to about 1,100 kilometres.
He said the President also approved the reconstruction of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway using reinforced concrete pavement, the completion of the long-abandoned Ibi Bridge in Taraba State, the construction of the 5.76-kilometre Lau Bridge, and the dualisation of another 400 kilometres of the East-West Road.
Providing an update on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, Umahi said construction was progressing across several sections of the project.
Explaining that the first phase, stretching from Victoria Island to Eleko Village in Lagos, was serving as a benchmark for modern highway construction, while the second section, from Eleko to the Lagos-Ogun boundary, was about 60 per cent complete and expected to be substantially delivered by November, he added that the construction is also ongoing in Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Ogun and Ondo states.
The family of Mary Habila, the 26-year-old lady, whose death in the home of Dave Umahi, at Uburu, Ebonyi State, on June 27, has been raising a lot of dust, has upped the ante in their demand to come to a speedy closure on the incident through the prompt burial of her remains.
Originally, the burial for the deceased, initially said to be a physiotherapist, seconded to the Minister, but now confirmed to be a nurse, was slated for this Friday, but the plan seems to have been shelved owing to the insistence by both the police and the Minister for an autopsy to be conducted on the body.
Umahi, obviously enraged by the insinuations hovering over the incident, with many Nigerians pointing accusing fingers in his direction, had told reporters on Thursday that he had requested the Ebonyi State Police Command to transfer the matter to the Louis Edet House, Police Headquarters in Abuja, for full investigation, including a full autopsy to determine the cause of death.
But insisting on the position of the family, Tanko Habila, father to the deceased, has now petitioned the Inspector General of Police (IGP), demanding the release of her remains for burial.
At the Force Headquarters, Abuja, Habila, who was accompanied by his wife, other family members and their lawyers, told reporters, on Friday that it was saddening that almost two weeks after his daughter’s demise, the Ebonyi State Police Command had refused to release her body for burial.
Insisting on the reason the family had flatly rejected the autopsy option, he said: “As we are standing here, somebody can fall and die. It has happened. All we want is her body to be buried.”
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on Friday, signed the Presidential Executive Order on Virtual Assets Coordination, 2026, to harmonise the regulation of virtual assets, strengthen cooperation among the nation’s financial, revenue and capital markets agencies.
The order is also to, protect citizens from fraud, and safeguard the integrity of the financial system while enabling responsible innovation, a statement by Bayo Onanuga, presidential spokesman, who the intention was pursuant to Section 5 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as altered).
Stating that the directive took immediate effect, the statement added that the order was a response to a regulatory environment that had become fragmented as virtual assets increasingly blur the traditional boundaries between currencies, money, commodities and securities.
It said: “With relevant agencies operating in silos, overlapping in some areas and leaving gaps in others, the country has been exposed to risks, including money laundering, terrorism financing, cybersecurity and data privacy threats, fraud, and revenue losses. Too often, unregistered and fraudulent operators have exploited these gaps to prey on unsuspecting Nigerians, costing families their savings.
“The Order is designed to close these gaps through supervisory coordination, without introducing new layers of regulation or displacing the mandates of existing agencies. To achieve this, the Order establishes a Virtual Asset Council, chaired by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), with the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as vice-chairs, and comprising the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
“The Council will provide policy direction, promote synergy among the participating agencies, and work with the Attorney-General of the Federation to develop a harmonised legal and institutional framework that aligns the sector with Nigeria’s national security, economic and social objectives.
“The Order also establishes a Virtual Asset Office, the Council’s operational body, with its secretariat domiciled at the CBN. The Office will be responsible for the day-to-day coordination of information sharing, applications, and reporting among the agencies, supported by an integrated supervisory technology platform that provides shared visibility while preserving each agency’s ownership and control of its data.
“Significantly, the Order does not create a new regulator or transfer powers between agencies. Each institution retains its full statutory mandate and independence, and the framework coordinates their work rather than replacing it.
“To provide certainty for operators and protection for the public, registration will follow the nature of the activity and the asset involved: activities like securities will be registered by the SEC, while payment, settlement, custody and related services involving non-security virtual assets will be registered by the CBN, with the Council resolving any case in which responsibility cannot be readily determined.
“This closes the gaps through which unregistered operators have previously escaped oversight. As part of the coordinated approach, the Central Bank of Nigeria is proceeding with a regulatory sandbox for virtual assets.
“The sandbox will provide a controlled environment in which eligible operators can test and operate virtual asset products, services, and blockchain-based solutions under close supervision, enabling the participating agencies to assess the implications for monetary sovereignty, financial stability, market integrity, consumer protection, financial inclusion, and revenue administration before products reach the wider market. It will help ensure that innovations that reach Nigerians have been properly examined and supervised.
“The CBN will announce further details of the sandbox. In the same spirit, the Nigerian Revenue Service will release a tax policy for the virtual assets sector. The policy operationalises Nigeria’s tax laws as they apply to virtual assets, providing greater certainty for taxpayers and service providers, strengthening voluntary compliance, and ensuring that the sector contributes fairly to national revenue as it grows.
“It complements the coordination framework by aligning revenue administration with the work of the other participating authorities. The NRS will provide further details. The Federal Government is also finalising a comprehensive Virtual Assets White Paper, which will set out the country’s longer-term policy direction and implementation priorities and serve as a roadmap for stakeholders across the sector.
“The Council has been directed to develop a Harmonised Implementation Framework within 30 days to guide the participating agencies in giving effect to the Order and to ensure its expedited implementation.”
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