The People Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State has condemned the alleged ploy of Governor Monday Okpebholo to splash N200m on each of the state lawmakers elected on the party’s platform to induce them into defecting to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In a statement signed by Chris Nehikhare, the Publicity Secretary of the party’s Caretaker Committee, the PDP stated: “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.”
PDP averred that “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.”
According to the PDP, “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.
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“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.”
PDP described Governor Okpebholo’s alleged plot as “executive rascality at its peak” adding “this brazen act of corruption and reckless misplacement of priorities is shameful and unacceptable.”
Going further, PDP stressed: “We are not however surprised by Okpebholo’s insatiable appetite for power at the expense of development and security of the State, having come to office unprepared through the backdoor via an election that is widely considered the most flawed and manipulated in the history of Nigeria and whose outcome is keenly contested in court.
PDP called on the people, civil society groups, and anti-corruption agencies “to rise against this abuse of power and reckless misappropriation of state resources.”
