Governor OKPEBHOLO dismisses his Commissioner for Justice SAMSON OSAGIE

Wednesday, October 15, 2025 - Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo has sacked the State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Dr Samson Osagie.

The governor has replaced the sacked Commissioner with Prof. Roland Otaru, SAN.

Recall that Osagie was suspended on February 5, 2025, by Governor Okpebholo over allegations of grave official and financial infractions, alongside Hon. Lawani Damian, the then Edo State Chairman of the Local Government Service Commission.

He was, however, on March 12, 2025, reinstated after the panel that was set up by the governor to investigate the allegations exonerated him of the financial infractions.

The Governor relieved the immediate past Commissioner for Justice, a few hours after the swearing in of 19 new Commissioners on Tuesday, October 14, 2025.

In the list of allocation of portfolios to the new commissioners, Samson Osagie’s name was conspicuously missing after being replaced by Prof Roland Otaru.

The governor also carried out a minor cabinet shake-up by replacing the immediate past Commissioner for Information and Communication, Paul Ohonbamu, with Prince Kassim Afegbua.

Okpebholo also changed the name of the ministry to Information and Strategy from Information and Communication.

Ohonbamu has been deployed to Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.

In the same minor shake-up exercise, the Governor deployed Dr Lucky Eseigbe from the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs to the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development.

Also affected in the exercise is Barrister Bisi Idaomi from the Ministry of Women Affairs to the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation while Eugenia Abdallah will oversee the Ministry of Women Affairs.

Commissioner was yet to be assigned to the Ministry of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy.

Meanwhile, Osi Akhigbe has not been signed to any ministry as commissioner while the screening and confirmation of Hon Chris Okaeben by the Edo State House of Assembly is pending.

Okpebholo, who increased the state ministries to 28, said the development was part of his administration’s strategy to comprehensively restructure the State Ministries.

He said the strategic reform is designed to mirror the structure at the Federal level and ensure the seamless alignment of the Governor’s SHINE Agenda with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

He added that in the restructuring additional ministries were created while some of the defunct ones were revived.

The additional ministries created by the governor are the Ministry of Livestock Development, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, the Ministry of Power and Ministry of Labour and Productivity.

The hitherto Ministry of Mining, Gas and Oil has been split into two separate ministries= namely the Ministry of Mining, and the ministry of Oil and Gas Resources with different commissioners.