The Media Adviser to Edo State’s former Governor, Godwin Obaseki, Crusoe Osagie, has accused Governor Monday Okpehbolo of wrecking the State within the first year of his administration.
Naijaonpoint reports that Osagie, in a statement on Friday, said that the Benin-speaking Edo South has suffered systematic economic asphyxiation since Okpehbolo assumed power.
Osagie said Okpebholo’s reckless and hostile policies have left the Benin-speaking Edo South in their wake palpable retrogression and economic loss.
According to Obaseki’s aide, Governor Okpebholo, who is supposed to superintend the State’s development, has become the destroyer-in-chief, throwing caution to the wind and leading an unprecedented onslaught on projects that drive the economy.
He said, “From the unprecedented onslaught on the Museum for West African Art (MOWAA) and Radisson Hotel projects, to attacks on the Benin City Mall, Saro Africa’s expansive agricultural development, the Ossiomo Power Project, Okomu’s massive oil palm development, and now Presco’s ambitious oil palm programme, it has been a tale of targeted crippling and deliberate suffocation of assets and investments in Edo South, the Benin speaking part of the state. ThStateoubling pattern reaffirms Okpebholo well earned title of the bull in Edo’s China shop.
“It beggars belief that despite the critical role these investments play in driving the State’s eState’s growth and development, a governor who is supposed to superintend the State’s dState’sent has become the destroyer-in-chief, throwing caution to the wind and leading an unprecedented onslaught on projects that are the very drivers of the economy, all in clear hatred for the Benin-speaking Edo South?
“While a few undiscerning in Edo South may link the unfolding reality to Okpebholo’s cluelessness, many in the region see it as a clear act of betrayal, given that it was an Edo South son, the immediate past governor, His Excellency Godwin Obaseki, who championed the push for power rotation to Edo Central, Okpebholo’s constituency, which had long been relegated in the state’s power calculus.”
Osagie also criticised Okpebholo over the attack on the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA), stressing that it jeopardises 30,000 Jobs and $80 million in annual revenue.
He stressed, “Okpebholo’s vicious onslaught against the stunning Museum of West African Art (MOWAA), one of the most despicable and embarrassing actions of the APC government, has continued to trigger deep concern among Edo people at home and in the diaspora, particularly because of its massive economic and tourism potential.
“The over ₦30 billion project, envisioned as a world-class tourism, research, and cultural heritage hub, was designed to transform Benin City into West Africa’s cultural capital. It has the potential to create more than 30,000 direct and indirect jobs and contribute over $80m (£60m) annually to the region’s creative economy through partnerships, research, exhibitions, and cultural programming.”
According to Osagie, Edo State is back in darkness after Okpebholo dismantled the Ossiomo Power project by terminating the firm’s ability to wheel power from its plant in Ologbo, located in Ikpoba-Okha LGA, to central Benin City.
He noted, “The 95MW Ossiomo Power Project, celebrated as a model of private-sector-driven energy reform, is also a casualty of Okpebholo’s unprecedented onslaught against assets and investments in Edo South. By terminating the firm’s ability to wheel out power from its plant in Ologbo, located in Ikpoba-Okha LGA, to central Benin City, through the revocation of right of way, Okpebholo successfully crippled the lifeline that powered industrial clusters, hospitals, government offices, and private consumers, throwing the entire Edo South and indeed Edo State into darkness.”
Speaking on the tourism and hospitality sector, Osagie emphasised that Okpebholo’s sustained threats against the Radisson Hotel Group are forcing the international brand to slow down its pace on the Benin City project.
He added, “This potential departure of such a globally recognised hospitality giant is set to erase prospects for job creation, tourism expansion, and international visibility. Unfortunately, another potential missed opportunity for Edo South.
“With cultural, agricultural, energy, industrial, and tourism investments already hit in rapid succession, many are left wondering which project will become the next casualty of Okpebholo’s unprecedented onslaught against the Benin-speaking Edo South people as well as investments in their region.”
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