APC Eso State Chairman, Col David Imusa rtd
* Turns Edo into personal empire
By Kingsley Abavo, Benin
The opposition political party in Edo State; All Progressives Congress (APC) has raised the alarm saying: the Governor Godwin Obaseki led factional People Democratic Party (PDP) administration, has turned a dictator; converting the State into a personal empire.
“As Emperor, he has conveniently castrated the State Legislature, emasculated the Judiciary and operates the Executive branch as a Sole Administrator.”
The Party raised the alarm amidst other allegations on Thursday, 20 October, 2022 in a media briefing on the state of affairs in Edo, under the Obaseki’s second tenure.
“He has lost every regard for the rule of law as his word is now law. The situation is so bad that Obaseki is today the lawmaker, the judge and even the prison, all put together.
“Emperor Obaseki’s flagrant abuse of power is legendary. He has refused to conduct the Local Government elections and has succeeded in keeping the Council’s statutory allocations, in a bid to clear the N60b debt he claimed they owe.
Indebtedness:
The Party says since 2016, domestic debt under Governor Obaseki has risen by N75b exclusive of foreign debt of over $280m from available records.
Thus, making Edo the second most indebted State in Nigeria. Amidst this, “he has forwarded a bill to the illegal House of Assembly for additional 25bn bond to further impoverish generations of Edo citizens, yet unborn.”
Collapsed roads:
“He has abandoned all flood and erosion projects inherited from his predecessor, just as he has left major roads in the State Capital and Local Government Area in different states of dilapidation.
“As a result, Benin-City though not a riverine locality, has been turned into a swamp anytime it rains.
“For a State Government that can barely patch an earth road, no one expected the Governor Obaseki’s led administration to fix Federal roads crisscrossing the State.
“Yet the Governor recently got a refund of N8b from the Federal Government that his predecessor used in fixing some Federal roads.
“No construction is on going across the State so what did he do with the refunded money?”
Traffic Lights:
“The claims of street lights powered by the hype of an Ossiomo power plant remains a ruse. This is why Benin-City is being ravaged by all types of ‘Obaseki Police’ some with dane guns and laying claim to controlling traffic whereas; they are actually extorting money from innocent citizens.
“King Square (Ring road) is worst as the National Museum ground is now an artificial habitat for uniformed thugs, criminals, rodents and reptiles.”
Demolitions:
“As we speak, Governor Obaseki has demolished the Central Hospital, Benin-City and his plans to replace it with a motor park has failed.
“His anticipated MOU for the park died on arrival; his partners were shocked that he destroyed a century old legacy hospital for a garage, so they backed out.
“Therefore, Edo people want to know what he intends to do with the demolished hospital since his clandestine move has failed.”
APC also demands answer from Governor Obaseki about who bought the demolished Library space which used to be a citadel of reading for educational conscious Edo children; and for how much.
Same with the Pediatric ward of the defunct Central Hospital now turned the ‘Legacy Mall’ adding; that Edo people are lost as to where proceeds from these sales are reflected in the State budget.
“The destructive streak of the Governor took a new dimension with his invasion of Irhirhi, Arogba, Obazagbon, and Ogheghe Communities.
“The Government spuriously claim that the destruction of these Communities is to make room for development of a new town project.
A Government that cannot construct ordinary earth road, is talking about building a new town.
“This sinister claim is far from the truth as the hidden intentions is to share this land, for himself and cronies before leaving office in 2024.”
Continuing, the APC bashed the Obaseki’s Government for having messed up the educational sector of the State, through the ‘EdoBest project. The party argued that it is a hoax which has added no value to the school children in the State.
“Obaseki claim to have transformed education with the fictitious Edobest 1.0 and Edobest 2.0 which are hallmarks of his 2020 ‘Make Edo Grounded Again’ (MEGA) manifesto.
The Party noted that Edobest 1.0 was merely the Governor’s purchase in billions of naira, of fairly used handheld devices for non existent teachers.
The Governor had to give it a new name ‘EdoBest 2.0’ because it was a hoax with the announcement of name change of school heads as Executive Headmasters or Executive Principals.
This was rather a mere design as a smokescreen, to hide the failure of the Government’s educational policy, it stated.
Obaseki’s Edobest 1.0 and 2.0 simply means, the lack of qualified teachers in public primary and secondary Schools across the State, APC say.
Nigerian Observer:
“The Nigerian Observer was set up in 1968 by late Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia, as an administrator of the then Midwest region.
“It was one of the assets Edo inherited from the defunct Bendel State, in 1991.
“After failing to set up a Board of Directors for the newspaper in a record six years, Governor Obaseki closed it down in June 2022, promising to reopen it under one month after restructuring it.
“But in the last four months, Governor Obaseki has not only auctioned its press, he has deployed all its staff to various Ministries, turned the newspaper into an online medium and renamed it the ‘Echo’.
“He also demolished sections of the newspaper office complex, occupied since 1968, imported a moribund and non functional printing press with a new set of staffers, as consultants.
“The truth is, Obaseki has sold the Nigerian Observer to his cronies under a dubious Public, Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement; that will die a natural death soon.”
Multiplicity of MDAs:
APC tackles Governor Obaseki that after it took him six months searching for competent hands before announcing his cabinet, he ended up creating ministries and agencies with duplicated functions.
Also, making many spurious appointments which are alien to the laws of Edo State.
But surprisingly, only two years later, the Governor has announced a reduction in the number of Government’s ministries, departments and agencies; clearly a mark of failure, it declared.
Commissioning of phantom projects:
“While Governors in States across the country commission better development projects like flyovers, Obaseki takes to commissioning phantom projects like hubs, motor parks and mini jetties for canoes.
The APC described as scandalous; “none of the projects Obaseki said were nearing completion in 2017 have been commissioned in 2022.”
Obaseki’s 30 year development Plan:
“In six years, Obaseki has signed more MOUs, partnership and agreements with individuals and organizations, than any State Governor in Nigeria, since 1960.
The Party list some of the termed failed MOUs as follows;
“Benin Enterprise and Industrial Park, Gelegele seaport, Ossiomo Power plant, Ologbo Modular Refinery, Benin Technical College, Edo Tech Park, Edo Innovation Hub, Benin Creative Hub, University of Innovation, Edo North Airport project, EMOWAA as “few of the many comical results of these MOUs.
“Yet; Obaseki who has less than two years in office is proposing a scam he calls 30 year development plan for Edo State, with a 2050 result date.”
State Chairman of the APC, Col. David Imuse rtd, who addressed the media said in summary, the Party holds the opinion that “the glory of Edo State has been brutalized in the last six years by the confused factional PDP administration of Governor Obaseki.”
The Party adds: hence the “State is in serious crisis due to the continuing legacy of bad governance on display, by Obaseki’s poor understanding of democratic governance.”
It therefore salutes the resilience and patience of the people of the State pointing out; “the future is in our hands and as a people, we must take the initiative to boot out Obaseki’s co – travellers in PDP.
“And those perceived to be sponsored by him; in all its forms come 2023 elections.”
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