Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, has berated former governor Godwin Obaseki for hastily commissioning an unfinished project, the Stella Obasanjo Hospital in Benin City. He said construction at the facility is still ongoing, and equipment is yet to be procured by the last administration before it was hurriedly commissioned.
According to a statement given to the governor of Edo State by the chief press secretary, Okpebholo promised to promptly fix the hospital’s structural flaws so that it could be repositioned to better serve the public.
Along with the Deputy Governor, Rt. Hon. Dennis Idahosa, and the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Cyril Adams Oshiomhole, the governor spoke during a Tuesday night inspection of the hospital’s facilities.
“After examining the facilities, it is evident that nothing was done here by the Obaseki-led administration, as they simply painted the building and fixed air conditioners to trick the public into believing the building was finished,” Governor Okpebholo said. “What Obaseki and the PDP government have done is unknown to me.”
“This is a sham. Construction was ongoing when he commissioned the building. This is unacceptable. It is unfair. It is cheating to Edo people. We will come back again to talk with the contractor and see how to commission it for Edo people.”
The contractor has a lot of explanations to make about the project, according to Dr. Oshiomhole, who showed the governor around the premises.
“His Excellency has gone round to see the work, and we have a lot of talking to do with the consultant and contractor because we thought that by now, the work would have been almost ready.
“This building was commissioned by the last administration politically, but coming here it is like an abandoned building on the other side. A lot of explanations need to be done at this point.
“I came here with a team of doctors, surgeons, and other medical experts so that they will have their input, and there were some structural defects we saw. We alerted the contractor and promised to correct those errors,” he said.
Meanwhile, the opposition party in the state has knocked the governor, and the party, APC over. They described as misrule, arguing that if not appropriately addressed, the issue could spell doom for the state’s democracy.
This was according to Anthony Aziegbemi, the chairman of the Edo PDP Caretaker Committee, at a press conference held on Tuesday at the party’s State Secretariat in Benin City, the capital of Edo State.
The statement read, “It has become imperative to call this press conference to draw the attention of the public and other stakeholders to the very troubling and disturbing developments in Edo State under the All Progressives Congress-led administration, which, if not appropriately addressed, could spell doom for our democracy and serve as a recipe for anarchy and instability, thereby threatening the peace, progress and security of our dear State.
“It is most unfortunate and disappointing that in just 14 days in office, the governor-select, Monday Okpebholo, through his actions and inactions, have succeeded in setting a dangerous tone for crisis and breach of public peace, and we are worried that this troubling precedent may just be an ignition for a conflagration that may well be avoided.
“He added that the new Edo governor and his deputy are yet to formally resign their respective seats in the national assembly.
“Two weeks after their inauguration on November 12, the governor-select, Senator Monday Okpebholo, and his deputy, Denis Idahosa, have failed to officially resign from their respective seats in the Senate and the House of Representatives, denying their constituencies of representation at the National Assembly in line with Section 68(1)d of the 1999 Constitution as amended: “A member of the Senate or the House of Representatives shall vacate his seat in the House of which he is a member if he becomes President, Vice President, Governor, Deputy Governor, or a Minister of the Government of the Federation or a Commissioner of the Government of a State or a Special Adviser.
“How can they simultaneously hold the positions of Governor and Senator, as well as Deputy Governor and Member of the House of Representatives? It is only right and constitutional that they should resign their membership, allowing their seats to be declared vacant and paving the way for a by-election.
“But again, APC thrives on illegality and lawlessness and has continued to thread on the infamous path, while making a mockery of their constituents.
“The Edo PDP caretaker boss also berated Governor Okpebholo over a flyover bridge contract awarded; he insisted the project did not follow due process in line with the state’s Public Procurement Act.
“We are also aware that the ‘emergency’ overhead bridge flagged off by the Okpebholo-led government at Ramat Park, Benin City, bypassed all standard procurement procedures.
“The flyover is nothing but a white elephant project to reward godfathers for their role in subverting the will of Edo people at the just concluded gubernatorial election, and we demand that the government makes public the procurement procedure for this project, stating the cost of the project and timeline, how the contractors were selected, and whether the process complied with the State’s Public Procurement Act, among other details relating to the project.
“We are aware that the Governor-Select is dismantling all the levers of government and governance that he inherited, and so we are not surprised that he considers the state procurement act a hindrance that must be dismantled.
“Governor-select Okpebholo has procured over N5bn worth of vehicles without proper procurement process which has created a crisis to the extent that PS Governor’s Office is threatening civil servants in Central Administration for refusing to accept vehicles due to improper documentation while desperately looking for ways to pass entries for over N2bn of inauguration costs.
“The Edo state procurement act is at risk and we must all speak up!”
