By Jude Opara
The candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the September 21, governorship election in Edo State, Senator Monday Okpebholo has advised his counterpart in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Barrister Asue Ighodalo to withdraw from the race over his alleged failure as the Economic Adviser to Governor Godwin Obaseki.
Okpebholo, who currently represents Edo Central senatorial district at the National Assembly, claimed that Ighodalo’s roles as an Economic Adviser plunged the state into huge debt.
The APC flagbearer gave the advice on Tuesday during a meeting with the Edo State chapter of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) in Benin City, the state capital.
He said it is sad story that the outgoing governor that had failed Edo state was bringing the same person who was his Economic Adviser to take over from him.
“I told myself that if I was Barrister Ause Ighodalo I would not bother myself to contest the governorship election because a government that I am an Economic Adviser in has failed.
“Where I came from, which is Esanland, we were taught morals and anything that is bad or spoiled, we don’t eat”, he said.
Okpebholo lamented that the current debt profile of the state was over N573 billion from N43 billion it inherited.
According to him, the rate of stealing in the Obaseki-led government was unprecedented, a cogent reason the people of the state must not allow that to continue with his third-term bid through Ighodalo.
“In Edo State, do you know that the debt profile of the state at the moment is over N573 billion. That is what Edo State owes now. During Adams Oshiomhole’s period, monthly allocation from the Federation Account was between N3.1 billion and N3.3 billion but today the allocation is between N11.1 billion and there is nothing to show for it.
“This outgoing government which Asue Ighodalo was the Chief Economic Adviser only inherited about N43 billion debt from Adams Oshiomhole, Lucky Igbinedion and Prof Oserhiemen Osunbor governments.
“When Oshiomhole was receiving between N3.1 billion and N3.3 billion work was going on in the state but with over N11 billion, Governor Obaseki has nothing to show for it”, he added.
Okpebholo, who said he was the best man for the governorship position due to his experience as a senator, assured that when voted governor; he would change the face of governance in the interest of the people.
He appealed to the farmers to come out en masse on Election Day to vote for him, assuring that his administration would as a priority empower farmers as major stakeholders in ending food insecurity in the state.
