The Edo State People’s Democratic Party on Thursday alleged that Governor Monday Okpehbolo has concluded plans to induce its members in the House of Assembly to decamp to the All Progressives Congress (APC) with N1.6 billion.
In a statement issued by the state PDP Caretaker Committee Publicity Secretary, Chris Nehikhare, the party condemned the move and urged the governor to focus on problems bedeviling the state.
The statement reads, “The People’s Democratic Party 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.
“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, is 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.
The statement added, “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.
“This is executive rascality at its peak, and we dare say that this brazen act of corruption and reckless misplacement of priorities is shameful and unacceptable.
“While we call on all well-meaning Edo people, civil society groups, and anti-corruption agencies to rise against this abuse of power and reckless misappropriation of state resources, we want to restate that as a party, we are undaunted by the evil machinations of Senator Okpebholo and the APC as we remain the popular party in the State.
Responding, the Commissioner for Information and Communication, Paul Ohonbamu, denied the claim, stating that the governor is focused on working for the people of the state
He added, “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 his election, 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, and 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 the state. The governor is not the kind of person who needs validation from a handful of people.
“The Speaker knows that for him to survive, is by performing well and doing what is expected of him. He even said that once you get to the House, there are no politics but about Edo State. Maybe that is why the PDP is
