The Edo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Friday exchanged words over the APC South-South Summit holding on Saturday (today) in Benin, the state capital.
APC governors and leaders from the zone are expected to converge on Benin for the event.
In a statement by the Publicity Secretary of Edo PDP Caretaker Committee, Chris Nehikhare, the party described the summit as a jamboree and a waste of tax payers’ money.
He alleged that the state governor, Monday Okpebholo, had ‘squandered public funds’ with the recent hosting of Progressive Governors Forum in the State.
‘Barely days after squandering billions of scarce public funds to host All Progressives Congress governors in Benin, Okpebholo, in the latest of his series of waste, is set to lavish another huge sum of money in hosting APC leaders for a ‘South-South Summit’, again funded with taxpayers’ money.
‘It is quite appalling and disappointing that Monday Okpebholo, who has been junketing across the country and beyond in search of loans to fund basic government operations, has now turned Edo State into a theatre of political jamborees, wasting billions of naira in taxpayers’ money daily on hollow, self-serving political gatherings.
‘All these needless jamboree and extravagance are happening while critical sectors like health, education, and infrastructure are grossly neglected, when there are no visible projects by his government, no real governance taking place in the state and while the people continue to suffer from his government’s maladministration’.
Responding in a statement, the state Publicity Secretary of the APC, Peter Uwadiae-Igbinigie, said the PDP was peddling falsehood, stating that the state was indebted and suffered neglect during the eight years’ rule of the PDP.
‘It is important to set the record straight and expose the hypocrisy, mischief and intellectual laziness that run deep in the near moribund PDP’s fabric.
‘Firstly, it is laughable that the same PDP, under whose disastrous eight-year misrule Edo people suffered tyranny, reckless borrowing, mindless debt accumulation, abandoned projects, and daily squandering of public funds under the guise of “Memoranda of Understanding”, now has the effrontery to accuse Okpebholo’s administration — barely seven months in office — of squandering resources. Is this not the height of political amnesia?’
‘Unlike the PDP, which turned Edo State into a personal ATM for the sole administrator and his phony consultants, the APC under Senator Okpebholo has prioritised fiscal discipline, transparency, and inclusive governance.
‘The so-called “political gatherings” Nehikhare bemoans are legitimate engagements that foster unity, strengthen regional collaboration, attract investment opportunities, and lay the groundwork for robust economic partnerships for the benefit of Edo people. It is even more amusing that the PDP, which frittered away billions on countless white elephant projects with no trace today, dares to talk about “neglect of critical sectors”’.
