Attack on Obaseki diversionary tactics by APC, says aide

The Special Adviser on Media Project to the Edo State Governor, Crusoe Osagie, on Sunday, said the All Progressives Congress was employing diversionary tactics ahead of the September 21, 2024 governorship election, by making spurious allegations against Governor Godwin Obaseki.

The Independent National Electoral Commission fixed September 21 to conduct the governorship election in Edo State, with the three leading parties, the APC, Peoples Democratic Party and the Labour Party fielding Monday Okpebholo, Asue Ighodalo and Olumide Akpata, respectively as candidates.

The Edo APC, on Saturday, accused the state government of monumental corruption, calling on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to investigate some top government officials.

The acting state chairman of the party, Jarret Tenebe, at a press conference, alleged that the EFCC had already invited some top government officials for investigation.

Tenebe also alleged that the much-celebrated paperless operation by the government was a ploy to delete certain critical data from the server, in case the PDP lost the election.

The acting APC chairman queried the N28bn allegedly spent on a five-star hotel by the state government, adding that the structure was about 85 per cent completed before the government took over from its original owner.

However, in a statement on Sunday, Osagie said the APC used the press conference to cajole the Edo people.

“The attention of the Edo State government has been drawn to an ill-fated press outing by the All Progressives Congress in which they made several spurious and outlandish accusations.

“The shameful event aimed at cajoling Edo people and fruitlessly staging a straw man’s argument aimed at winning support for their lacklustre and tepid candidate in the September 21 Edo governorship election.

“The APC’s only strategy ahead of the September 21 election is to deploy diversionary tactics and manufacture alternative facts in the hope that this will remove the spotlight from the obvious and disgraceful defects of their candidate, which has made the election a lost cause.

“In their presser, for instance, they rambled about the ingenious transformation introduced by the Governor Godwin Obaseki administration, which they are not intellectually equipped to understand.

“This is not unexpected because you cannot give what you don’t have. The profiles of these individuals give them away as people with no capacity for governance.”

He added, “Today, not only is Edo the first digitised and most advanced public service in Nigeria, but the state has invested in positioning its workforce and its larger population for opportunities presented in the Fourth Industrial Revolution through a robust digitisation programme. With a state-wide fibre optic cable infrastructure and an advanced ERP system in place, all files have been archived and are easily retrievable.

“Instead, APC is lost in its quest to plunder public resources and is scared that an ERP system would make it impossible for them to steal without a trace. So, they are out to demonise the system to nurture the idea of hiding files, demanding bribes for government processes to be hastened and feeding fat on an old, dubious and opaque system of administration.

“They make light of the investment in Radisson Hotel, a key addition to the state’s hospitality landscape. Edo today boasts only one international hospitality chain, the Protea brand managed by Marriot, with Radisson being the second.

“Much as there are more quality local brands, the potential benefits of increasing the number of international brands bode well for the state’s nascent tourism sector. The state has lost the hosting right of a lot of international events on account of the limited presence of international brands.”

The governor’s aide said the increase in the cost of the hotel was a result of the poor management of the economy and the declining value of the Naira against other currencies by the

APC-controlled Federal Government.

“Today, the development is costing more to complete because the fundamentals have and there is a need to reassess financing. The APC would appreciate this if they were better schooled and had a basic understanding of macroeconomic dynamics,” the statement noted.

Speaking on the attack on the modular refinery and its ownership, the statement said, “Today, the refinery is a testament to the creative genius of the Governor Obaseki-led government. Instead of seeking to understand how such projects come about, they are preoccupied with slandering the governor for signing Memoranda of Understanding (MoU).

“If they do not understand how MoU works, how would they have the faintest idea of how Edo, which produces a small fraction of crude oil as compared to other major oil-producing States in Nigeria, now boasts of not one, but two modular refineries.

“They are fixated on knowing who owns the refinery because they are plotting how to run the facility aground with avarice. But the creative thinking that went into the development of the refinery would ensure that it outlives hawks in the APC, which is how it ought to be,” it added.

It advised the APC to speak to the issues rather than shadowboxing, adding that by September 21, Edo people would vote for the candidate of the PDP, Asue Ighodalo.