PDP slams Okpebholo over Radisson Hotel controversy

By Jethro Ibileke

The Edo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has launched a fresh attack on the administration of Governor Monday Okpebholo, accusing it of lacking ideas, vision and a clear understanding of modern governance.

In a statement issued on Saturday by the party’s Publicity Secretary, Dan Osa-Ogbegie, the PDP described the current administration as driven by vendetta and propaganda rather than purposeful leadership.

According to him, the government’s approach to major investments in the state reflects a consistent pattern of hostility towards development projects initiated by the previous administration.

“We have watched the reckless onslaught against the Museum of West African Art project. We have seen the hostility directed at the 95MW Ossiomo Power Project. We witnessed the harassment of Saro Farms and the ethanol investment in Ikpoba Okha. We observed the deliberate crippling of the Edo Printing Press at the Nigerian Observer premises.

“We saw the embarrassing misadventure against Presco Plc, from which the government retreated only after public outrage and investor backlash. Now, the Radisson Hotel project has become the latest victim of this administration’s politics of destruction,” he said.

Osa-Ogbegie argued that these actions were not isolated incidents, but evidence of a government that is unable to initiate or manage development projects.

“This pattern is neither accidental nor coincidental. It is the conduct of a government without ideas, without vision and without a basic grasp of modern governance. Unable to conceive, design or execute development projects, they resort to tearing down investments they neither initiated nor understand,” he added.

The PDP spokesman also criticised the State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Kassim Afegbua, over comments allegedly describing the ₦2 billion invested by the immediate past administration of Godwin Obaseki in the Radisson Hotel project as “voodoo financing”.

Describing the remark as misguided, Osa-Ogbegie said, “It betrays a frightening illiteracy in finance, social investments and contemporary development economics. Public-Private Partnerships, Special Purpose Vehicles, equity contributions, project-finance loans and asset-backed repayment structures are not crimes. They are the language of modern infrastructure development across the world.”

He maintained that under Obaseki, Edo State adopted internationally accepted standards in fiscal management and investment-driven growth, adding that the current administration’s criticism of such models only exposed its “intellectual bankruptcy”.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the Radisson Hotel project was structured as a Public-Private Partnership. Edo State’s ₦2 billion contribution was seed equity injected to de-risk the project and attract credible private capital. The core private investor brought in substantial equity of its own,” he said.

He further explained that funds referenced by the present government, including portions of bond proceeds, were provided as loans to the project’s Special Purpose Vehicle, with defined repayment obligations tied to the hotel’s future operations.

“This is not plunder. This is development finance,” Osa-Ogbegie stated.

According to him, the state’s investment in the Radisson Hotel had already appreciated significantly, even before the commencement of operations.

“Even before commencement of operations, the Edo investment in the Radisson project had already appreciated significantly, conservatively valued at over ₦65 billion, with further upside expected once operations begin. This is what happens when governments think strategically, attract private capital and invest in long-term economic assets,” he said.

He dismissed claims that the project was sold cheaply or handed to cronies, insisting that Edo State retained equity in the hotel and that Obaseki had no ownership interest in the project.

“The insinuation that the project was ‘sold for peanuts’ or gifted to cronies is false, malicious and defamatory. Edo State retained equity in the project. At no point did Mr Godwin Obaseki have any direct or indirect ownership interest in the hotel,” he said.

Osa-Ogbegie concluded that what the government had described as “voodoo financing” was, in reality, a globally accepted model for infrastructure delivery and economic growth.

“What Kassim Afegbua and his principals describe as ‘voodoo financing’ is, in truth, the globally accepted method by which serious governments deliver infrastructure, stimulate tourism, create jobs and grow economies. Their inability to comprehend it does not render it fraudulent. It only exposes their illiteracy,” he said.

He urged Edo residents to question the Okpebholo administration’s approach, asking: How does chasing away investors create jobs? How does dragging strategic investments before the EFCC and the courts improve opportunities for young people? And how does propaganda replace governance?