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Mayaki faults World Bank, Buhari for propping up tyrannical regime in Edo
FORMER Chief Press Secretary to Edo State Governor, John Mayaki has called on the United States of America to ban the Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki and some members of his cabinet for allegedly sponsoring election violence and rigging against the Labour Party, LP, and All Progressives Congress, APC, candidates in the just concluded National and State Assembly elections in the state.
Mayaki said the United States should stop being hypocritical and selective in its punitive measures against anti-democratic elements, if they must be taken seriously. Particularly, he said the $75 million World Bank grant to Obaseki’s administration was a tacit support for a government that denied and blocked the inauguration of 14 elected House of Assembly members in the state and making sure that the case was never mentioned in court.
He accused the governor of resorting to draconian measures to avoid facing the electoral judgement of the people over a self-induced fear that the outcome could result in the termination of his hapless reign in charge of the state.
He said, “Governor Godwin Obaseki was haunted by the shadow of incompetence and general failure he cast since his unfortunate emergence as the leader of the state. He knew that a free and fair result could only produce one result; the total and complete rejection of his party at the polls. Unwilling to submit himself to the checks and balances of a legitimate state house of assembly filled with independently-minded representatives of the people, he resorted to violence, voter repression, and naked rigging of the polls.”
Faulting those he described as the abettors of Governor Obaseki’s lawlessness and tyranny, Mayaki trained the fire of his criticism on the World Bank and the Buhari-led administration for “propping up the evil regime” by consistently failing to demand accountability for his alleged persecution of opponents, denial of constitutionally-guaranteed freedoms, and disregard of the rule of law marked by his illegal denial of access to 14 lawmakers-elect in the last state assembly.
He said, “The World Bank has sadly continued to give oxygen to an administration that is literally persecuting the opposition in Edo State. It is a sad betrayal of the institution’s values. Obaseki, through violent and abhorrent tactics, forced a one-man rule in Edo State.”
“He unilaterally denied representation to representatives of the people in the last state assembly election and granted access to a select-few minority who were willing to surrender the autonomy of the House and bow to his wishes. Through this totalitarian control achieved with violence and flagrant disregard of the constitution, he went on a borrowing spree, racking up loans with neither the approval of the people as would have ordinarily been the case with a functional assembly, nor a transparent account of government expenses, including bogus and inflated contracts awarded to friends and cronies in his elaborate patronage network.”
“If the World Bank is truly committed to sustainable development, eradication of poverty, and the strengthening of democracy across the globe, then it must review its role and come to terms with its complicity in the daylight robbery and egregious violation of rights committed in Edo State by a man it continues to empower.”
“The same applies to the Buhari-led Federal Government. It will go down in history that under the president’s watch, a state governor was allowed to shut the door to the state assembly to elected lawmakers over suspicion that they would not do his bidding and he successfully maintained the lopsided and illegal status quo throughout the life of the Assembly without check,” Mayaki said.
Besides, the Edo APC Chieftain however commended the party for claiming several seats in the just-concluded state and federal legislative elections, noting that the party’s victory, particularly in the federal elections, is proof that the people have rejected the governor and his party, the PDP.
Mayaki’s commendation is coming after the APC won two Senate, seven House of Representatives, and eight State House of Assembly seats in the election, giving it a combined majority of seats to represent the people at the state and federal level.
He congratulated the winners and alleged that the party’s win would have been bigger but for the violence and repression carried out by the Governor in a bid to ‘conceal his disgraceful loss of face, sullied reputation, and widespread unpopularity in the state’
Gov. Douye Diri of Bayelsa has set up a committee to work out modalities for implementation of a new minimum wage for workers in the state’s civil service.
The committee is headed by Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Nimibofa Ayawei.
Other members included the Head of Service, Mrs Biobelemoye Charles-Onyeama, the Commissioner for Finance, Maxwell Ebibai, his Labour, Productivity and Employment counterpart, Ebiuwou Koku-Obiyai and the Chief of Staff, Government House, Mr Peter Akpe.
The committee has the end of May 2024 to submit its report.
Diri made the pronouncement on Wednesday at the 2024 Workers Day celebration at the Peace Park in Yenagoa.
The governor assured that his administration would implement a new minimum wage once the committee submitted its report, adding that the state workers always have emoluments as their federal counterparts.
Diri stressed that the welfare of workers had always been a top priority of his administration as attested to by the numerous worker-friendly policies he initiated.
He equally promised to commence the building of a new befitting secretariat complex for civil servants to accommodate the increasing workforce.
The state’s helmsman, who described workers as the backbone of development in society, attributed the achievements in his first tenure to the support and contributions of civil servants.
He called for continuous harmonious working relationship with his government in order to bequeath lasting legacies.
The Bayelsa helmsman also approved an annual step increment for civil servants, release of funds for completion of the state secretariat of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC).
“The committee is to immediately look into what the Federal Government has done on the proposed minimum wage and see the possibility of domesticating it in Bayelsa.
“It is given until the end of May to submit its report.
“My dear workers of Bayelsa, you have done so well. You know that you are the engine room of this government. We have succeeded because you have done so well. We receive commendations everywhere we go.
“In terms of infrastructure, human capacity building and other sectors, we have done well. I say you should continue to keep it up.”
According to him, together, we are building a Bayelsa of our dreams, a beacon of hope, a model of progress and a testament to our unity of purpose.
“The tangible evidence of these fruitful collaborations is that abundantly, we have made it clear for all to see in the plethora of transformative legacy projects that now span the length and breadth of our state, touching the lives of all Bayelsa people.
“Let us continue to work together so that the future of our state will be established.
“Beyond the ongoing renovation, we will look at the option of building a new state-of-the-art secretariat complex to accommodate the expanding workforce,” he said.
Earlier, the workers eulogised the governor for his labour-friendly policies that had improved their working condition.
In a joint address by the chairman of the NLC, Comrade Barnabas Simon, and his TUC counterpart, Comrade Laye Julius, the workers specifically thanked the governor for approving payment of wage award to all categories of workers in Bayelsa.
“We thank you for the regular conduct of promotion exercises and implementation, prompt payment of salaries of workers and pensioners, among others.
“Organised labour in Bayelsa is most sincerely grateful for your kind and favourable disposition to the needs and aspirations of workers in the state.
“Your open-door policies and swift response to most of our demands in the last four years is highly appreciated,” they said.
They, however, appealed for an upward review of the wage award, improved transportation system for workers, and mapping out of acquired lands for civil servants.
Minister of Works, Dave Umahi has said the Group Chief Executive Officer and founder of The Landmark Group, Paul Onwuanibe, cannot claim compensation from the Federal Government in connection with the demolition of structures for the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.
The Federal Government is currently demolishing properties along the shoreline to create a pathway for the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.
The Landmark Group, owners of the Landmark beach in Lagos State, is believed to be one of the organisations that will be highly affected by the demolition.
However, Umahi has insisted that infrastructures belonging to Landmark were spared, hence the owner can’t make claims on the Federal Government.
Addressing journalists, the minister said the beach was on the right of way and shoreline.
He said: “No claim for Landmark, we spared all his infrastructure, we don’t pay for the demolition of shanties because it is on our right-of-way, 15 meters from the shoreline, so he has no claim.
“We made all efforts to spare his infrastructure. The Landmark owner is acting like a politician, me I’m an engineer.
“While he does all the politics, I am an engineer, I’ll do the engineering work. I don’t know the attention he is seeking.”
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