Edo State Government has chided a group which calls itself “Edo State Elders’ Consultative Forum” saying it is made up of faceless political hangers-on rather than true elders.

A statement by the Chief Press Secretary, Mr Peter Okhiria, said true elders would have apprised itself of the facts in the State Assembly before coming to a wrong conclusion.

“As a matter of fact, the group is a non-existent one as no one has heard of it until its ill-informed statement published in the newspapers.

“While the elders pretended they were neutral in the recent change of guards in the State Assembly, they showed their hand when they said ‘the Governor should know that politics is different from activism’, a worn refrain which they probably copied from their ageing godfather. Even he knows better now.

“For the records, the so-called elders should note that Governor Adams Oshiomhole had nothing to do with the internal affairs of the State House of Assembly and did not influence nor engineer the removal of Zakawanu Garuba as Speaker. As a matter of fact, the Governor was in far-away Calabar, giving a keynote address to members of the Rivers State House of Assembly holding a retreat there.

“While the faceless group calls itself elders, we know who the real elders in Edo State are, and some of them were at the Government House, Benin City on the 18th February, 2010 on a “Thank You” visit to the Governor for transforming the face of the State. The group, Committee of Benin Elders boasts of such members as serving Vice Chancellor, serving Deputy Vice Chancellors, former Vice Chancellors, former Deputy Vice Chancellors, former ministers including Prof Abel Guobadia, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and Prof Emmanuel Emovon.

“We challenge the so-called “Edo State Elders’ Consultative Forum” to make known its members and what positive contributions they have made towards the development of our dear state to have earned themselves the sobriquet ‘elders’.”