Edo PDP raises alarm over alleged destruction of Obaseki’s legacy projects

By Jethro Ibileke

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in Edo, has raised the alarm over what it called coordinated and reckless campaign of calumny, provocation, distortion and hostility being orchestrated by the State Government.

The party in a statement on Tuesday by its Publicity Secretary, Dan Osa-Ogbegie, blamed the State Governor, Monday Okpebholo and alleged overbearing APC godfather.

He called on Nigerians and the Federal Government to prevail on Okpebholo to stop forthwith the destruction of Obaseki’s legacy projects, calling it a political vendetta in the guise of governance.

“For months, the APC-led administration has deliberately sought to bait, distract and tarnish former Governor Godwin Obaseki, a leader who served Edo State with transparency, prudence, institutional reform and clarity of purpose.

“This lingering resentment stems from Obaseki’s principled refusal to surrender Edo’s resources to private pockets — a tradition entrenched under their former leader, Adams Oshiomhole, but courageously halted by Obaseki.

“Instead of governing responsibly, the Okpebholo administration has spent its early months dismantling, undermining or frustrating the legacy projects and institutional gains of the Obaseki era,” he said

Osa-Ogbegie listed Obaseki legacy projects allegedly destroyed by Okpebholo’s administration to include: the Saro Farms in Orhionmwon and Ovia, suspension and discrediting of the Benin Enterprise Park, hostility to the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA), eversal of EdoGIS and Digital Land Reforms, reversal of civil service reforms, alleged attempted destruction of educational gains under Edo Best and attacks on the agricultural investment pipeline.

“These are not acts of governance. They are acts of vendetta, bitterness and political vandalism,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Edo PDP Spokesman, Osa-Ogbegie, has said that former Governor Godwin Obaseki has deliberately refused to be dragged into petty politics.

He noted that despite persistent provocations, Godwin Obaseki has maintained dignity and restraint and has refused to descend into insults and mudslinging perfected by Okpebholo and his handlers.

Reacting, Edo State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Prince Kassim Afegbua, dismissed PDP’s allegation as mere “comedy of error”.

He also dismissed Osa-Ogbegie’s claim of destruction of Obaseki’s legacy projects as non existent.

“If only they were true reflection of the reality on ground, Edo would naturally sing hosannah song, but a government that paints its architecture from imaginary conjecture when the reality paints a different picture should be ashamed of the relics of failure that stares it in the face,” Afegbua said.