Edo State’s political climate took on a new dimension Thursday when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) expressed concern that Governor Monday Okpebholo intended to use N200 million per member to entice them to defect to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Of the state assembly’s 24 members, 13 are currently PDP members. However, in a swift response, Hon. Paul Ohonbamu, the Commissioner for Information and Communication, denied the accusation, stating that some PDP members had been meeting with APC leaders to join the party.
A statement by the State Publicity Secretary of the PDP Caretaker Committee, Chris Nehikhare, accused the governor of planning to squander the state’s funds in the face of decay.
The statement read “The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is aware of the ploy by Senator Monday Okpebholo to splash N200 million each to induce members of the Edo State House of Assembly elected on the PDP platform to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC).”
“We condemn in the strongest terms Senator Okpebholo’s desperate plans to squander the resources of the people of Edo State on political horse-trading for his own survival, while critical sectors of the state remain in dire need of government intervention.”
“In the last few weeks alone, at least 34 innocent Edo citizens have been brutally murdered across various communities in the State as a result of rising insecurity. While properties worth millions of naira have been destroyed on the back of the ongoing security crisis.”
“Small and large-scale farmers are being displaced daily, more communities are being sacked by rampaging kidnappers and herders, while others, including the city centre, are being overrun by non-state actors, leaving residents in fear and economic activities disrupted.”
“The state is currently grappling with severe infrastructure decay due to neglect. The health sector is in shambles, with hospitals and clinics lacking essential medical supplies, including the Edo Specialist Hospital, where even the most basic consumables are unavailable. More youths now look up to thugs as role models because the government has failed to provide meaningful opportunities for their engagement.”
“Unfortunately, amidst all these challenges, Okpebholo’s only concern is his political survival, as he schemes, along with his many political godfathers, to squander billions of naira that should be used to improve the lives of Edo people, on inducing Assembly members to defect to the APC.”
Ohonbamu, when contacted denied the allegation on phone saying “There is nothing like that, the governor of Edo state does not need to induce any PDP legislator to come into the party if anyone is coming, you should know that it is the goodwill of the governor that is working, without the legislators the governor won, he doesn’t need them to survive, he does not need them coming to the APC to survive the truth of the matter is that most of them on their own accord have been meeting with APC leaders that they are joining on their own accord without inducement, the governor have no time to waste the people’s money on PDP legislators when we have our own and APC is very large party.”
“The truth of the matter is that the governor has done a lot and he will continue to do his work for the people of Edo state. The governor is not that kind of person who needs validation from a handful of people.”
“The Speaker knows that for him to survive, it is by performing well and doing what is expected of him, he even said that once you get to the house, there is no politics but about Edo State. Maybe that is why the PDP is scared but if they are coming to the party, the APC is large enough for everybody.”
