The Edo State Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare, has unequivocally refuted the rumors suggesting that the Alaghodaro Summit has been granted office space within the Government House in Benin City.
In an official statement provided to Naija News on Thursday, Commissioner Nehikhare categorically dismissed these claims, asserting that they lack any factual basis.
Nehikhare elaborated further in his statement, emphasizing the impossibility of accommodating an Alaghodaro Summit office within the Government House. He clarified that Alaghodaro Summit is not a government parastatal but rather a company limited by guarantee, dedicated to the mission of attracting private investment into the state.
According to him, “The rumour making the rounds that an office in Government House has been designated for Alaghodaro Summit is false and unfounded. It is being peddled by mischief makers who are bent on causing tension in the state.
“These mischief makers are obviously being sponsored by some undesirable elements to cause crisis in the State. I repeat that there is no such thing as an office for Alaghodaro Summit in Government House.
“Alaghodaro Summit is not an agency or parastatal of the government and therefore has no need for an office in Government House. It is an organisation limited by guarantee working to attract private investment in the state.
“I advise the general public and the press to disregard the rumour in its entirety.”
Reports had emerged claiming Governor Godwin Obaseki had allocated the former office of his Deputy, Comrade Philip Shaibu, in Government House, Benin, to Alaghodaro as secretariat.
In a leaked memo dated September 18, 2023, Obaseki directed the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Osarodion Ogie, to “immediately” allocate Shaibu’s office building to the trustees of Alaghodaro summit as their Secretariat.
Alaghodaro, as gathered by this platform, is an initiative of the governor to drive investment in the state.
It was gathered the chairman of Alaghodaro, through its secretary, had written to Obaseki for a permanent secretariat building to aid planning and logistics for the 2023 summit held in the second week of November.
In the leaked memo, the governor also directed that the office space closest to the venue of the summit, the New Festival Hall of Government House, which hitherto was occupied by Shaibu, should also be allocated to the board of trustees of the Alaghodaro summit, as well.
