From Tony Osauzo, Benin
The Edo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has raised the alarm that things have fallen apart in the state, accusing the state governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, of neglecting governance because of his inordinate and unattainable ambition to control the state PDP structures and become a new godfather.
The state chairman of the APC, Col. Dr. David Imuse, rtd., who raised the alarm while addressing journalists in Benin City, said the state has been left to drift with the implication that the people are traumatised through bad governance.
He said it was now crystal clear to Edo people that in spite “of our human and material resources Mr. Obaseki’s administration has not been able to meet the legitimate expectations of our people”.
Col. Imuse express his party’s worry over incessant borrowings by the Obaseki’s administration, pointing out that the government would plunge the state into debts that generations yet unborn would not be able to pay.
“We also want to warn Mr. Obaseki against taking another loan, at a time the state is heavily indebted. Without a state legislature, Mr. Obaseki has since he assumed office for a second term increased the domestic debt of the state by an additional N50 billion, from N81, 750,262,718.83 in 2021. This is exclusive of State’s foreign debt of over $280million from available records. In December 2020, he sponsored a N25 Billion Fixed Rate Senior Guaranteed Series 1 Bond Issuance by River Jamieson SPV Limited and guaranteed by an Irrevocable Standing Payment Order (“ISPO”) on Edo State’s revenue issued by the State Ministry of Finance. In November last year, he again took an N18.7 billion loan from the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“Now Mr. Obaseki wants to take a new N7 Billion loan to finance its scam of a Light up Edo project, which in Benin City has seen the repainting of a few street light poles. Without a clear cut action plan, the Obaseki PDP administration has made itself a good customer to many of the country’s financial institutions, as it now gets all forms of loans, in the name of the Edo State government. Unfortunately, these loan transactions are done covertly and for nebulous projects whose scopes, utilities, locations and contractors are largely vague. This development validates apprehensions of a huge swindle on our state at the expense of innocent citizens, including generations yet unborn. With the reckless borrowing by Mr. Obaseki, Edo State might eventually not have a state and a patrimony that we can freely call their own”, he said.
Besides, the APC chairman alleged that the Obaseki government was planning to demolish more private properties in the state including worship centres and filling stations, cautioning that Edo people will no longer tolerate the government policy of willful demolition of properties.
Specifically, Col. Imuse stated that the implementation of the restoration of the Benin City Masterplan suffered because Governor Obaseki deviated from the roadmap of his predecessor in office, just as he derided the governor for bringing the PDP National Chairman to the state to commission mini Jetty for canoes and uncompleted motor park when his counterparts are commissioning flyovers.
He said the APC was prepared to reclaim the state and provide good governance for the people.
But reacting to Imuse’s claims, Edo State Commissioner for Information and Orientarion, Mr.Adaze Enwata, said the Government of Edo State under the leadership of Godwin Obaseki remains committed in fulfilling the MEGA Manifesto.
“The Making Edo Great Again (MEGA) manifesto was fully endorsed by the good people of Edo State on September 19 2020, when they voted overwhelmingly for the Governor and his Deputy, who flew the flag of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP). So it is rather unfortunate to hear Imuse, a retired soldier, who became APC Chairman in Edo State by default, spew all manners of falsehoods in the name of a press conference.
“The baggage of lies of the lmuse-led Edo APC is never empty of mischief. The lie lmuse concocted that the Edo State Government is about to source for a #7 billion facility from the capital market to fund an already completed street light project can only come from an idle mind that is remotely controlled by the devil. The crisis-ridden Edo State chapter of the APC cannot play the devil’s advocate at a time when Nigerians are groaning over the excruciating pains of the astronomical rise in the prices of pms, diesel, aviation fuel etcetera and the total darkness the recent collapse of the national grid inflicted on a great part of the nation. Let alone the undisputable fact that the APC-led Federal Government has failed to find an agreement with ASUU over salary issues, which in turn has kept Nigerian university students at home for over a month now. With these glaring inactions of the APC-led Federal Government, one therefore finds it laughable to hear Col. Imuse sermonize and cast aspersion on a subnational government in areas where his party, the APC, which controls the national government has failed woefully.
“In his wild goose chase of a press conference, lmuse strenuously attempted to attack the recent commissioning of landmark projects of the Godwin Obaseki-led government in Edo State by the PDP national Chairman, His Excellency, lyorchia Ayu. Nothing can be more anti-people and retrogressive than such a pedestrian and beer parlour-generated statement of the retired-colonel-turned politician . Imuse deliberately excluded the ultra modern complex of the Edo State School of Nursing Sciences from the list of commissioned projects, in order to further decieve the Nigerian public, an act typical of palace jesters of his ilk.
“Why didn’t Imuse talk about the Ossiomo Independent power plant, the Edo tech park, the new civil service buildings with fibre optic connectivity, the long stretch of newly constructed roads leading to the new towns in the lrhirhi-Aruogba – Ogheghe axis, the Ugboha water project, and the gains recorded by the Edo Geographic Information Service in encouraging transparent land administration in the state? Rather he chose to criticize the move by the Ministry of Physical Planning, Urban and Regional Development to ensure compliance with the development master plan, as required by law. Only a person in the mould of a defaulter would be afraid of law enforcement or statutory compliance. The politicisation of law enforcement has been the bane of the socio-economic transformation of Nigeria. Therefore, the Edo State Government cannot fall for any emotional blackmail when it comes to the issue of law of enforcement”, Enwata added.