The newly elected governor of Edo State, Senator Monday Okpogholo, and his deputy, Hon Denis Idahosa were sworn in yesterday, at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City, the state capital.
The occasion was graced by Vice President, Kashim Shetima, chairman of the Governors Forum, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, APC governors, National Chairman of the APC, Adbullahi Umar Ganduje, and members of the national assembly all in attendance.
Governor Okpogholo and his deputy both took the oath of office and pledged to uphold the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and to serve the interest and well-being of the people of Edo State.
In his inaugural speech, Governor Monday Okpogholo said that the welfare of Edo people is a top priority for his administration and that it will be achieved through the application of a five points agenda that will focus on “security, intramural and road development, affordable health care, water and food sufficiency, and value-driven education across the state.”
He added that “To end the ugly situation of kidnapping and other violent crimes, we will be firm in dealing with criminals and improve the security of our land, so that, farming and other businesses will flourish again.”
Okpogholo further said that his administration is setting up a panel of inquiry to investigate the reason why fourteen members of the Edo State House of Assembly were not inaugurated into the 7th Assembly, in 2019.
The Vice President, Senator Kazim Shetima while speaking on leadership at the occasion said that what defines good leaders is their sincerity and courage to confront the challenges of the numerous problems they inherit. He added that this is the best time for one to serve his people as the people’s demand for good leadership is stronger now than ever before.
Governor Monday Okpogholo on his first day in office made some appointments. These include Dr. Cyril Adams Oshomole (Commissioner for Health Designate), Hon Samson Osagie (Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice), and Musa Ikhilor (Secretary to the State Government).
In the build-up to the inauguration, the Edo state APC chairman, Jarret Tenebe had complained of bottlenecks in the handover process on the part of the outgoing government, the PDP.
The People’s Democratic Party accused the APC of not carrying everyone along in the planning of the inauguration.
The Labour Party also claimed that it was left out of the inauguration. The LP Edo chairman, Kelly Ogbalo while speaking to Channels Television said “We just hope that the APC government will now begin to appreciate the fact that everybody in Edo will now serve under them and be fair to every citizen of Edo state. But I can tell you very clearly at the moment, my party has not been invited to the inauguration. Perhaps, it is not in their rule to do that.”
