A Benin-based lawyer, Olushola Iyogun, has advised Edo State Government to exercise patience on recent statements credited to the state Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Dan Orbih, and urged him to prove that the documents he is parading are original documents and approved by the state government.

In a statement, Iyogun said “If Edo State Government is considering legal options against Dan Orbih, it should soft-pedal because Orbih has a duty to go the extra mile to convince the public that his claims against the state government are genuine, and that the documents were not forged otherwise, one would advise the state government to invoke the law and prosecute Orbih for false information, forgery/perjury, incitement, unlawful possession and acquisition of confidential documents, among other considerable legal options.

“Except to say that the state government and in this case, the governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole does not want to invoke the powers of his office, and the law or that those approvals made by him as an Executive Governor were duly sought and obtained according to the Freedom of Information Act by Orbih since they are classified as secret or confidential documents.

“However, I want to note here that the alarm and the intentions which the approvals were meant to achieve by Dan Orbih can best be described as malicious and  outlandish because, if without conceding, the authenticity of the documents, the approvals were not only legitimate, they are also in line with world best practices. Was the event in Chicago a priority? Yes. Is Oshiomhole the first Governor to have attended similar events by Edo Nationals in the United States of America? No. Was money approved above the conventional and statutory allowances for oversea trips for top government officials? No. When these delegates including traditional rulers got these monies, did they embark on the trip? Yes. Was money embezzled? No.”