The Edo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has offered a reward of N50 million to the immediate past governor, Godwin Obaseki, if he can walk freely on the streets of Benin City and receive a warm welcome from residents.
Prince Kassim Afegbua, a chieftain of the party and member of the Edo State Assets Verification Committee, issued this challenge during a press briefing following the committee’s inauguration by Governor Monday Okpebholo at Government House in Benin City.
Afegbua addressed allegations and criticisms from the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against Governor Okpebholo’s administration, which is just two weeks old. He claimed that the new government’s people-oriented policies have already endeared it to the public.
He stated, “The reason for the press briefing, just like the chairman said, is to respond to some insinuations out there. First, they said that the government of APC, that is barely 14 days old, has shut down the e-governance platform. That is very laughable and very incorrect. What they called e-governance is actually e-corruption. That is the basic truth because we tried as much as possible to access some of the information that was paraded before this new government, we couldn’t even access them.
“Secondly, the opposition is saying that our thugs invaded their secretariat. I think they are just trying to call a dog a bad name in order to hang it. We are too preoccupied, too serious, and too busy trying to pick up Edo State from the ashes of underdevelopment that the previous government plunged it into. To be looking at the secretariat of an opposition party that was humbled at the last election, beaten flat in their domains by the resounding victory that we got from the Edo people?
“The decisions and policy focus of the present government is such that we will not be bogged down by claims [of those] trying to attack us, just to distract us. Only today they issued another statement complaining about the facts that because we lack what to do, we are setting up an asset verification exercise. Everyone knows that all over the world, it is good for you to have a status report of a government when you are taking off. The practice is not just for Edo State or Nigeria alone; it is everywhere.
“And, because the previous government was short in terms of facts and figures that dominated its own governance process, we have a duty to, as APC, in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Federal Government to begin to interrogate certain gaps as already captured by the chairman of this Assets Verification Committee. So, we want to tell Edo people that as few days as the new government has taken off, the projects we have embarked on as a government and as a party, and the steps we have taken so far have endeared us to the hearts of Edo people.
“If the opposition is truly serious, they should please invite ex-Governor Godwin Obaseki to come to Edo for a street walk. We are ready to pay him N50 million for that particular exercise and let us see who the Edo people will embrace.”
Afegbua also alleged that the former governor has hired individuals across the state to attack and criticize the APC and its government.
However, he assured that this would not distract the government and the party from focusing on providing credible projects to address the state’s challenges.
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