De Patriot

It was a sad day on Saturday morning, the 27th of March 2021 , when the news of the demise of the state correspondent of Champion Newspaper, Comrade Ezekiel Isessele filtered  into the Edo State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists,( NUJ), in Benin City. The sad news threw the entire council into confusion, as it came in at the time the council was preparing to go honour their own who was getting married same day. The leadership of the council quickly rush to the hospital to know the true position as it was hard to believe that the vibrant and healthy looking journalist was no more. Comrade, Ezekiel Isessele, popularly called  Ezeco, was a  graduate of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, and hailed from Ewu  in Esan Central Local Government Area of Edo State. He was aged 48,  survived by a wife and three children.

The honourable member representing Esan North-East/Esan South-East Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Rt Hon. ( Barr.) Deacon Sergius Oseasochie Ogun has congratulated the executive governor of Edo state, His Excellency, Mr Godwin Obaseki on his well deserved victory at the Court of Appeal over the alleged certificate forgery case brought against him by the APC and her governorship candidate in the last gubernatorial election, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu.  While describing the verdict of the appeal court which dismissed the certificate forgery suit by describing it as unmeritorious,  he stated that: " Gov. Obaseki's victory is a victory for Edo people, the rule of law and academic excellence.  The verdict of the appeal court which upheld the earlier judgement  given by the lower court has driven a death nail into the political coffin of those who thought they could upturn the mandate of Edo people through the back door" Going further, the l...

. The Speaker, Edo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Marcus Onobun stated this recently in Benin City at a consultative workshop for government agencies and relevant stakeholders on effective implementation of Non-custodial measures(NCM) The Speaker who officially kicked off the workshop at Bishop Kelly Pastoral Centre in Benin commended the federal government for taking steps towards the implementation of Non-custodial measures.  According to him, correctional centres are highly congested, overstressed and need discongestion noting that when crime rate reduces to the bearest minimum, the Police and other security agencies will have lesser work to do with more efficiency. He pledged the determination of the House to provide legislative frameworks and necessary logistics for the implementation of the said measures. Also present at the event were other government functionaries and stakeholders on correctional, judicial  and security matters including stat...

Some people leave a mark in the sand of time long after their departure from earth. Others are forgotten few months after their departure, depending on the quality of life one live during lifetime. Godwin Omozokpea Okpere was a great Esan son. His touch on Esan home video and films revolutionized the industry. In fact, it will not be too exaggerating to state that he was the father and creator of Esan home video and films. I know that a few Esan films existed before he came, but his coming created a new awareness revolution and promotion in the industry. He created stars among Esan actors and actresses. The movie name he gave to them is more their identity today than their real names. He was a walkaholic. And identifying stars was never a problem to him. His love for his profession was never in doubt as you see his touch and perfection in his areas of specializations. The Uromi born entertainment mogul was a camera man, film editor, script writer film director, dancer, sing...

By Rosemary Okoduwa The Hon. member representing Esan South East/ Esan North East Federal Constituency in Edo State, Hon (Barr) Sergius Oguns said his motive for sponsoring  the bill to empower the national assembly to summon the president was based on the fact that no such law  exist in the country's  constitution. The bill which is a constitutional amendment bill which recently passed the second reading seeks to compel the president to appear before the lawmakers and answer questions on issues of national security and related matters. It also empowers state houses of assembly to summon governors under the same circumstances. Although it did not explicitly state the penalty for disobeying such summon. In an interview with an online media, Hon Sergius said “The penalty is not explicitly stated but that could be the case. “When something like this is constitutional, if there is an infraction, it becomes impeachable.” The bill comes amid the usual controversies ...

The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki; his wife, Betsy; Edo State Deputy Governor, Rt. Hon. Comrade Philip Shaibu and his wife, Maryann, on Monday received the first dose of coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine. Others who received the vaccination during the flag-off ceremony of the exercise in Government House, GRA, Benin City, include the Secretary to the State Government, Osarodion Ogie Esq. and Chief Judge of the state, Chief Justice Esther Edigin and among other political, religious and traditional rulers. With the rollout, frontline workers in the state are to take the vaccine to fortify workers in isolation centres and other healthcare centres across the state.

In a statement signed by the party chairman Dr Tony Aziegbemi,it was a day  for the EXCO to come together as a family to mark the first anniversary of their election to run the affairs of this great political party, People’s Democratic Party, PDP, here in Edo State. He said during their campaigns, they did promise party faithfuls  four things; 1. Get the party back to government house 2. Make the party secretariat functional 3. Within the first four years the party must have its own purposely built permanent secretariat in Benin city 4. Empowerment of party members  Upon his emergence as the chairman of the Edo State chapter of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) on 14th March, 2020, he  declared that his first and most important task will be to lead the party to victory in the then up-coming governorship election. Bearing in mind however that the party had spent 11 straight years in opposition but consistently did very well in federal legislative electio...