Edo govt denies alleged N14bn debt

By Simon Ebegbulem
BENIN CITY—THE Edo State Government has described as “highly exaggerated” the N14 billion being quoted by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as the debt profile of the state since the assumption of office of Governor Adams Oshiomhole.

The government also defended the suspension of two council chairmen in the state for alleged fraud, saying that the out cry by the PDP against their suspension was an indication that the party never cared about the people they led but “only what they can grab for their pockets and that was why they ruined this state for over ten years now.”

It will be recalled that the chairman of the PDP in the state, Chief Dan Orbih, had raised an alarm that the debt profile of the state rose from N4billion when the PDP administration was in power to N14billion now, saying that it was an indication of the alleged  recklessness of the state funds by the Governor.

However, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Political Matters, Mr Charles Idahosa, who addressed newsmen in Benin City, yesterday said that the figures quoted by the  PDP chairman was “ wickedly exaggerated in order to create a non-existing state of alarm.”

According to him, “ perhaps the leadership of the PDP needs to be educated that there is no modern government that operates on sound economic principles and policies, which does not take full advantage of credit lines to fast track development.

The reason why the PDP is hypersensitive on the mere mention of loans is understandable. It is against the backdrop of the unimaginable recklessness of the past PDP governments that obtained loans and shared same among their godfathers and leaders”.

INTERACTIVE SESSION: From left: Mr. Solomon Edoja, Chief Solomon Funkekeme, Member DTHA and Mr. Hendrick Opukeme, Coordinator, Delta State Youths Consultative Assembly (DSYCA) during the first interactive session held at Songhai-Amukpe Sapele on Saturday. Photo by Akpokona Omafuaire..

But under the current Comrade Governor’s administration, there is a major paradigm shift. It is not business as usual” he stated.

On the suspension of the chairmen by the Governor, Idahosa stated that the “ Comrade Governor is a public officer who believes that an accused person must be given fair hearing and therefore, promptly constituted two panels of retired Judged to investigate the allegations and if at the end of the day the officers are not found wanting, they will surely be promptly recalled”.