A socio-cultural group, Edo National Voice(ENV) has once again appealed to the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki to release the four months statutory allocation of the Benin Traditional Council(BTC) that he withheld.
ENV gave the governor a week’s ultimatum to release the money or face the inevitable option of a street protest.
According to the ENV statement endorsed by Iyamu Osaro Culture(President); Comrade Collins Osaghae Amadin(Secretary General); Osahon Okoro-Obaraye(Director of Operation and Strategy) and Lolo Emmanuel Usoh(BOT Chairman): “As uncompromised defendants of our rich culture, custom, tradition and heritage, we are here again to state without any equivocation that contrary to our recent announcement that Governor Obaseki has released the four months Benin Traditional Council statutory allocations he deliberately withheld, the actual money he released was state government supposed support funds that he ought to be giving to our revered Palace for logistics as the Governor of Edo State just like it was done during the era of successive governments.
“Thus, the move by Governor Obaseki to approve logistics support funds for our revered Palace was an attempt to water the tension arising from our constant agitations cum engagements.
“It is important to state that the four months statutory allocations in contention is a constitutional obligation of Federal Government which is always added to Local Government Council statutory allocations for onward disbursement to traditional rulers across the country and no government reserve the rights to withhold it.
“Therefore, judging from the aforementioned, we hereby call on Governor Obaseki for the second time to immediately release the four months Benin Traditional Council statutory allocations as accruals from Federal Government that he deliberately withheld without further delay.”
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