The Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Blessing Agbebaku, has directed the House Standing Committee on Public Petition to investigate a petition to the house by Sandra Palmer Martins over alleged denial of access to her son, Johaness Martins Owen, presently in the custody of her estranged husband, Uyi Martins, a Nigerian naturalized Danish national.
Distraught Sandra had approached the lawmakers in a petition sent to the House on her behalf by her counsels, A.I. Oviawe Legal Consult titled “A passionate call for intervention” came up for hearing Monday during plenary at the Edo State House of Assembly.
Parts of the petition reads, “We are constrained to urgently and passionately call your attention to the callous, inhuman and fraudulent acts of one Mr. Kelvin Uyi Martins, (our client’s husband), who is a Nigerian and also a Danish citizen who last known address is Kongedybet 2, ST.TV 2300 Copenhagen, Denmark and with property in Benin City which property our client had hitherto lived until she was forcefully ejected from the house with thugs.
The petition was read on the floor of the House before the lawmakers, Agbebaku thereafter mandated the committee to within two weeks investigate the petition and report back to the House.
Also, the house passed a Bill for a law to provide a legal framework for the establishment of the Edo State Oil Palm Programme to promote Oil Palm Cultivation in Edo State.
The passage of the Bill was a sequel to the consideration of the report of the House Standing Committee on Agriculture and Food Security which was on 25 March 2024 presented by its Committee Chairman, Hon. Kaycee Osamwonyi, member representing Uhunmwode Constituency.
The report which had four(4) findings and one(1) recommendation noted, “that the Bill was timely and desirable considering the challenges facing the Oil Palm sector in Edo State.
“That the Bill shall provide an institutional framework for the operation of the Edo State Oil Palm Programme through collaboration with the private sector; it will help the development of the Oil Palm sector and help create jobs for the youths as well as boost economic growth and contribute to our Forest Management and Restoration.”
The single recommendation by the committee was that the Bill be considered and passed by the Honorable House.
The Speaker, Rt. Hon. Blessing Agbebaku, after a consideration of the report by the House therefore directed the Clerk of the House to send clean copies of the passed Bill to the state governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki for his assent.
In another development, The Speaker has directed that the Management of BEDC and TCN to appear before the Hallowed Chambers on Wednesday, 27th of March 2024 to explain reasons for poor service delivery in Edo State.
He gave this directive during the plenary as it has become necessary due to the epileptic and near non existent power supply currently suffered by the people of the State.
