Monday Okpebholo, governor of Edo, has ordered a freeze of all bank accounts belonging to the state government.

Okpebholo issued the directive on Thursday through Fred Itua, chief press secretary to the governor.

He asked commercial banks, ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) to immediately comply with the order or face severe consequences.

“All bank accounts in all the commercial banks have been frozen. Commercial banks must comply with the order and ensure that not a dime is taken out of the coffers of Government until further notice,” the statement reads.

“Heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies must comply with this order without further delays.

“After the necessary investigations and reconciliations, the Governor will do the needful and decide on the way forward. For now, this order stands.”

Okpebholo also directed relevant agencies to reverse the naming of the ministry of roads and bridges to the ministry of works — a nomenclature changed during the Godwin Obaseki administration.

“It is funny how you can call a Government institution Ministry of Roads and Bridges,” the statement reads.

“Ironically, no single bridge was built by the same administration. Not even a pedestrian bridge

“In the coming days, we will look at more actions taken by the previous administration and more decisions will be taken that will be done in the best interest of the state.”

The development comes days after Okpebholo took over the reins of power in Edo.

The governor had earlier ordered an indefinite suspension of revenue collection in the state — including at motor parks.

The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) has sealed two facilities in Abuja and Kogi for breaching environmental laws.

The facilities are Geld Construction Limited, located in Abaji, FCT, and Arno Energy, a charcoal production company in Okaba, Kogi.

In a statement on Wednesday, Amaka Ejiofor, NESREA’s spokesperson, said the companies were sealed for failure to conduct their environmental impact assessment (EIA).

Ejiofor noted that the facilities also failed to provide important environmental documents, including an air quality permit, an environmental audit report, and a waste management permit, necessary for maintaining standards in companies.

“The EIA provides guidance on mitigating the negative impact of a facility’s operations on the environment,” the statement reads.

“Their failure to do so led to the closure of the facilities to save human health and the environment.”

The NESREA’s spokesperson added that the facilities were also operating in an environmentally harmful manner, resulting in negative impacts on the host communities and the environment.

She said procedural measures, including the issuance of compliance notices, had been taken to force the facilities to address and rectify their violations.

Innocent Barikor, the director-general of NESREA, urged industry operators to ensure their activities and operations follow the stipulations of the law.

The federal high court says it would go on break from December 16 to mark the Christmas holiday.

In a circular, John Tsoho, the court’s chief judge, said the Abuja, Lagos, and Port-Harcourt judicial divisions would remain open to the litigating public during the break.

Tsoho added that the court would resume proceedings on January 6, 2025.

“The vacation is pursuant to the provisions of order 46, rule 4 (c) of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules, 2019 (as amended),” the circular reads.

“Only matters relating to the enforcement of fundamental rights, arrest or release of vessels and matters that concern the vacation judges shall entertain dire national interest.”

The notice added that Emeka Nwite and M. S. Liman would be judges at the Abuja division during the vacation, while Akintayo Aluko and Isaac Dipeolu would sit at the Lagos division of the court.

P. M. Ayua and A. T. Mohammed would be the adjudicators at the Port-Harcourt division pending the resumption of complete court activities.