Don’t clear commissioner nominee, Owan West group petitions Edo Assembly

By Gabriel Enogholase

BENIN—A group, Owan West Progressive Movement, OWPM,  has called on the Edo State House of Assembly not to confirm the appointment of a commissioner nominee, Mr. Reginàld Okun, whose name was recently submitted to it by Governor Godwin Obaseki until allegations of forgery of certificate and being an ex- convict levelled against him were properly investigated.

However, reacting to the allegations in an interview with Vanguard, Mr. Okun described same as untrue, insisting that the records were there for all to verify.

He said: “It is not true that I am an ex- convict or that I forged my certificate. Records are there for all to see.  On the allegation that I am  an ex-convict, they should use available modern technology such as Google to find out the truth because there is nothing that can be hidden now.

“We have heard this several times because this is an era of politics where so much can be said and peddled.”

Also, former Secretary to Edo State Government. Prof. Julius Ihonvbere, now Special Adviser (Strategy, Government House Units) to Governor Obaseki, described the allegations as laughable and hogwash.

He said: “Mr. Reginald Okun was a former local government chairman for Owan West and he was cleared then to contest the election and no allegations were made against him. This is the handiwork of those who are not happy that he was nominated for the position of commissioner and are trying to reap where they did not sow.  For the avoidance of doubt, Okun was cleared by the party and the Obaseki administration will not be involved in anything criminal.”

However, the group, in a petition to the Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly by its President, Chief Samson Oboh and copied to Governor Obaseki, state Chairman of the APC, Mr. Anselm Ojezua, Edo State Commissioner of Police and Director of DSS, alleged that Mr. Okun claimed to have obtained a Bachelor of Arts (BA) Degree from the University of Westminster in the United Kingdom.

He stated that there was nothing like “Bachelor of Arts (BA)” in Environmental Studies, but a “Bachelor of Science, BSc,” adding that investigations at the said university showed that although the Environmental Studies Department exists in the University, there was no such information that Mr. Okun graduated from there.

The group also alleged that the commissioner nominee failed to produced the University he claimed to have obtained his Masters (MSc).

It  alleged that Mr Okun was convicted in the United States and was made to serve a prison sentence in Richmond City by the Virginia East District Court on April 15, 2013 though he filed a motion to vacate the prison sentence on him.

 

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