7th February, 2024
By Jethro Ibileke
A governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo, Dennis Idahosa, has berated Governor Godwin Obaseki over the state’s high indebtedness.
Idahosa who gave his view on Tuesday when he met with members of the Correspondents’ Chapel, Edo State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), noted that Edo is currently the third most indebted state in Nigeria.
The frontline aspirant promised to review the loans the state has incurred through Governor Godwin administration, if eventually elected governor of the state.
He said: “Edo state currently is the third most indebted state in Nigeria. When there is too much debt, most of the allocations accruing to the state will be used to service them and we cannot sustain that.
“So, under my watch as governor, we are going to review most of these loans because some of them were not properly evaluated, I will ensure that is done.”
Commenting on the 21 September governorship election in the state, Idahosa said that Obaseki’s promises to the people have not been fulfilled and therefore his candidate and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) should be voted out of office.
Speaking further, the aspirant promised autonomy to local government councils for grassroots development, even as he promised to replicate his developmental strides as the member representing Ovia Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives if he is elected governor.
“With what I have done in Ovia Federal constituency, I know that if APC gives me the ticket, with your support and the good people of Edo State, I will win and turn Edo around.
“One of the things I will do is to ensure that there is local government autonomy. I will ensure that monies appropriated for them get to them so that they can develop their localities against what we currently have where local government areas are given stipends and not enough for to work but under my watch, that will not continue.
“I understand very well that women are the bedrock of every home and if we give them opportunities, they will maximize it which will help build our economy. The government will be a guarantor to all the financial institutions in Edo to give women soft loans.
“For the youth, I will leverage on foreign investors to create jobs for our young people, I will woo foreign investors to come here and invest and then create real jobs for our people,” Idahosa said.