Crusoe Osagie, media aide to former Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, on Thursday, dismissed as unfounded the claim that his principal owed contractors N200 billion.
Osagie described the allegation as a baseless attempt to tarnish Obaseki’s outstanding legacy.
In a statement, he also pointed out that Okpebholo and his associates were exhibiting a clear lack of understanding of fundamental concepts in economics, governance, and administration.
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The statement read, “The Edo State Governor-select, Monday Okpebholo, and his handlers have continued to display a glaring ignorance and poor understanding of basic concepts in economics, governance, and administration, and have now resorted to making outlandish and baseless allegations about a supposed N200 billion debt to contractors in a desperate attempt to disparage and rewrite the sterling legacy of the immediate past governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki.
“The Okpebholo-led government must stop whining and get on with the task of governance. Although I can not confirm the exact figures mentioned by the former Federal Government Permanent Secretary, Dr. Ernest Afolabi-Umakhihe, I am aware that the Obaseki-led government had a lot of projects going on simultaneously and we had what we called the Irrevocable Standing Payment Order which allowed the contractors to carry on executing their projects with the assurance of monthly instalment payments already guaranteed by the government.
“The Obaseki-led government was a stickler to the public procurement law, and all contract variations were honestly done following due process.
“The immediate past governor ran the most transparent and accountable procurement system and implemented an e-procurement model that redefined the procurement process in the country, with the World Bank, the Nigeria Governors Forum and the Federal Government recognizing Edo State as the best procurement State in Nigeria. In fact, not less than 19 Nigerian States and two countries visited Edo State to understudy the transformational changes in the State’s procurement system. The records are there and are verifiable.
“As for the Radisson Hotel Project, the Obaseki-led government acted as a pro-development government should do, removing all the bottlenecks and allowing private equity to flow into the state. I am surprised that the committee has a problem with the State government owning minority shares in the business, considering the fact that it is common knowledge that the Government should not run businesses.”
He added, “So, the private sector owning 80 per cent and the government owning 20 per cent is exactly in line with best practices. The same goes for MOWAA.
“As for the cyber security fees, I understand that the Okpebholo-led government has a lot to learn about running government entirely on a digital platform. This makes cybersecurity paramount, and all they need to do is consult international organizations so they can understand that cybersecurity is the future of the global workplace. Edo has led the charge nationwide, and if Okpebholo needs help, he should swallow his pride and reach out to Obaseki. I am sure the immediate past governor will be willing to assist.
“We recommend that in their inquisition, they should be more open-minded and ready to learn new things as the government which Obaseki led was far more sophisticated than what the APC government is used to.”
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