THE AGONY OF EDO STATE, 3 YEARS AFTER GOVERNOR ADAMS OSHIOMHOLE ASSUMED OFFICE

Text of Press Conference by the Chairman, Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Edo  State Chapter, Comrade Godwin Erhahon on Wednesday, November 23, 2011.

Gentlemen of the Press

We are happy to welcome you to this press conference. We are earnestly grateful to you all for honouring our invitation within such a short notice. May the almighty God continue to bless you all. We are aware of the harassment faced by those of you who are practicing journalism objectively, boldly and professionally from the hypocrite ruling our state. We salute the courage of those editors who refused to transfer or sack you after outgoing Governor Adams Oshiomhole who is ashamed of the true image of his administration that you project asked them to do so. Breaking the mirror because you dislike your image as reflected does not change the image. The just shall live by faith. We also acknowledge the roles of those of you who are used by government to sabotage the efforts of the opposition by helping to kill stories from opposition political parties. I wish you are earning enough from the ignoble services so that you don’t sell your honour for peanuts.

The CPC as a patriotic Political Party, invited you for an objective appraisal of the state of affair in Edo State today, three years after the outgoing Governor Adams Oshiomhole assumed office.                                                                                                       

Comrade Oshiomhole’s campaign was based on credibility and integrity. But unfolding events in the past three years have shown that his administration lacks both credibility and integrity obviously because it is a direct product of the failed PDP administration led by Chief Lucky Igbinedion who is now ACN godfather. But for the challenges posed to him by the great performance of the eighteen months administration of Prof Oserheimen Osunbor, Oshiomhole would have toed the line of his mentor, Lucky Igbinedion completely. This is obvious from his choice of key players in the Igbinedion-led failed government as his key officers.                                                                                                                      

Since assuming office, Comrade Oshiomhole has ruled with neither transparency nor decorum, awarding contracts without advertising tenders; the identities of contractors and the contract sums shrouded in secrecy. Hence the failure of such major contracts as Airport Road Construction. He alone knows under what consideration a completely strange company as SERVETEK won the multi-billion Naira over-invoiced Airport Road Construction contract. We have repeatedly challenged the Governor to disclose the identity of the owner of SERVETEK. Which road has SERVETEK constructed before to deserve the award of the Airport Road Construction? How much has SERVETEK refunded to the state treasury after abandoning the project? From Ring Road to Benin Airport is 2km and that is all a Governor achieved in 3 years. Why is the Governor so afraid to reveal how much he has spent on the 2km of road construction? Who is going to compensate the homes and business premises that have been consumed by erosion at the Oko axis of Airport-Ogba Road arising from the shoddy work of an incompetent SERVETEK? Now that a talkative Adams Oshiomhole remains silent on these questions, we put it to him that SERVETEK belongs to him and his godfather.

The money wasted so far on this project and the damages done to lives and properties along Airport Road cannot be wished away by statement of re-award of the contract by the Comrade Governor who had pledged credibility and integrity during the electioneering campaigns. Why does he award contracts without open tender? Why should he allow the contract that he boasted to complete within six months linger for over two and a half years? Why should he obtain loans to expand existing faultless 2km motorable road at the expense of numerous impassable city and rural roads across the state? These loans which governor Oshiomhole has taken for the dualization of 2km roads in 3 years, is no doubt a burden on the social economic lives of the people and a threat to the future development of Edo State.

We condemn the demolition of homes and properties without compensations in Benin City and environs. Now that the Governor himself has abandoned the mindless policy of wanton and sadistic destruction of homes and properties, we would have expected him by now to make a categorical statement on how the victims of his demolition policy would be compensated after he has compensated those in Auchi, his home base. But because of the way elders of Edo South have cheapened the Binis to him, the Governor paid those whose houses were demolished in Edo North and refused to pay their Edo South counterparts.

Erosion has become a serious menace and threat to lives and properties in Benin City, Urhonigbe, Auchi, Ekpoma and many other towns and cities across the state. The Commissioner for Environment said that the State government has spent #4 billion on the study of erosion control. If a government spends #4 billion on mere studies, how much has it spent on the actual control of erosion in Edo State? Yet only the governor and his cronies know the consultant who earns so much!

From the above, it is obvious that his 3 years in office is marred with deceit, cheating and propaganda. We in CPC believe that Comrade Oshiomhole has taken the people of Edo State for granted believing that his propaganda and deceit will be swallowed by all.

Therefore July 14^, 2012 gubernatorial election is crucial to the objective of repositioning Edo state for responsible leadership. The CPC has accordingly entered into a coalition with the Labour Party, ANPP and the PPP to jointly sponsor a gubernatorial candidate. The platform on which the candidate will contest will be announced later after a formal declaration and selection of the candidate. Membership of the coalition is open to other progressive parties who are ready to abide by our rules.

Comrade Oshiomhole should not expect the support of Progressive Parties after he openly betrayed his ACN Presidential Candidate, Malam Nuhu Ribadu, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari of CPC and the progressive group during the last election when he coerced Edo ACN to vote for PDP.

We will like to end this address with a note of advice to our respected Bini Elders. The way some of them have cheapened their highly exalted positions by intruding in partisan politics of “you chop I chop, all is well” is becoming too embarrassing and demeaning. There is the popular Bini adage that says “the thief is not so much ashamed of himself as his relatives are ashamed of him”. A situation where those who sought to be insulated from partisan politics now choose candidates for political parties by endorsing incumbents for a second term ahead of their party primaries in a manner that prejudices the chances of other aspirants does not speak well of our culture. Meanwhile, these elders continue to betray our people and mortgage our culture. Whereas it is an abomination in Benin land for anyone to destroy other peoples houses, we have witnessed in recent times here in Benin City, wanton and selective destruction of houses of poor citizens by Governor Oshiomhole’s squad without compensation and those who ought to defend the poor victims joining the Governor to mock them because they, the selfish elders, have more to gain from the Governor’s patronage than from the weeping poor citizens. This is a negative re-definition of our native style of leadership. The way the exercise of demolition of houses near the Benin Moat eventually ended abruptly is an indictment on the elders of our land who failed to object to it until outgoing Governor Adams Oshiomhole cowardly reversed himself on the exercise after the demolition of the house of Dr Samuel Ogbemudia’s wife has backfired.

Whereas in Auchi, their elders ensured that government paid compensations for every house demolished irrespective of where such houses were located. A situation where the youths of our land are being turned to toys by government which give some of them jobs as elections approach and sack them after using them to rig elections or where tuition fees in state-owned schools are raised beyond what poor parents can afford and our elders see nothing wrong because the exploiters have made special provisions for their families does not portray the Binis well.

We plead with those Bini Elders who are mortgaging the people’s welfare for selfish government patronage to please stop behaving like the proverbial selfish old man who, on sensing that he was about to die, sold all his properties and squandered his money, disregarding the fact that there is re-incarnation. Our elders who value their titles should steer clear of the muddy political arena so that their sacred white robes and grey hair may not be soiled with the muddy erosion of politics.

It is disturbing, how out-going Governor Adams Oshiomhole has mastered the style of buying over Benin Elders to humiliate Benin people because our elders seem not to care about what happen to the people once their immediate families are satisfied.

It is our opinion that any leader who mortgages his authority for food dies a hungry man even with surplus food in his house. Imagine the shame that awaits these elders-turned political contractors when the people shall have rejected the candidate they have prematurely and unjustly endorsed. We are particularly disappointed seeing those who held an honour reception for Governor Igbinedion on the hallowed Benin Palace Ground in 2002 now saying the Binis have failed because Lucky Igbinedion failed as Governor. Why did they fail to rebuke Lucky Igbinedion then when there was yet time for him to correct himself, instead of honouring him for failure? The same cabal of Benin elders who chose Lucky Igbinedion as PDP governorship candidate late 1998, are the ones now singing Governor Oshiomhole’s praises. Sure! they will disown Comrade Oshiomhole once he is out of power.

CPC rejects the stigma of failure in government stamped on the Binis by these selfish and inconsistent Bini elders. The elders should allow the people choose their candidates for every election and wait to see how well the people-chosen candidate will perform. They should stop gambling with our collective might and honour.

  God bless you all.