…says it’s ‘wasted opportunity, policy paralysis, institutional regression’
. Allegations untrue, we’re not pretenders, economic predators, Afegbua reacts
Edo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party says the one-year administration of Governor Monday Okpebholo is a wasted opportunity, marked by policy paralysis and institutional regression.
Edo State PDP Chairman, Dr. Anthony Aziegbemi, stated this at a press conference in Benin City titled, “One Year of Drift, Decline, and Deceit.”
Aziegbemi alleged that the only vibrant department of the Okpebholo-led government is propaganda.
The Edo PDP Chairman claimed that rather than build, the government spent taxpayers’ money attacking perceived enemies, Obaseki, the PDP, journalists, and civic voices.
He, however, challenged the Governor’s media team to name five verifiable achievements in the last one year of the administration.
He said yesterday marked one full year of Governor Monday Okpebholo’s administration, and the verdict is clear that it had been a year of wasted opportunity, policy paralysis, and institutional regression.
Axiegbemi said, “While other states are consolidating reforms, driving innovation, and expanding growth, Edo has tragically returned to the pre-Obaseki era, an age defined by ignorance, propaganda, and prebendal politics.
“Benin City is sinking under filth. Streetlights are dead, roads are collapsing, and the once-structured infrastructure has been abandoned for photo-ops and political ceremonies.
“In one year, Monday Okpebholo has taken Edo from the age of progress back to the age of confusion. But Edo people are awake, and history will not forgive this season of waste.
“While Godwin Obaseki can point to tangible and, most importantly, intangible assets that he invested in, Governor Okpebholo only awarded just flyovers to siphon funds, attended an economic summit in Glasgow, Scotland, without a dime coming into the state, and ordered commissioners to wear Asiwaju caps or be sent out of council meetings.”
Aziegbemi, who described the state government’s 2025 budget as a copy-and-paste document without review or direction, alleged that the policy-making process in the state had degenerated into ceremonial photo-ops and church visits.
The Edo PDP Chairman also alleged that the state had been recaptured by external handlers, reversing the people’s victory over godfatherism, noting that this is not “democracy but political recolonisation.”
He further alleged that within the period under review, investors’ confidence had collapsed while the state’s economic rating had nosedived.
He said while Governor Godwin Obaseki received the sum of N154 billion in 10 months in 2024, Governor Okpebholo’s government received N236 billion, including internally generated revenue, within the same period.
He said the PDP remains Edo’s only organised, policy-driven, and people-centred platform, noting that the people are committed to the continuity of reforms, digital governance, security coordination, and inclusive development.
Aziegbemi, however, urged Edo citizens, civil society, and the media to join hands in restoring direction, dignity, and development to governance.
But in a swift reaction, the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Prince Kassim Afegbua, described the PDP’s allegations as untrue.
Afegbua said the PDP had since become a party in extinction, steeped in crass ignorance about positive governance.
The Commissioner said, “We are not pretenders like them or economic predators who pillaged Edo resources like famished baboons let loose in banana plantations. We are delivering on our promises and making sure there is value for money.
“From flyovers to road infrastructure, from school repairs to primary health care projects, Governor Okpebholo has turned Edo into a construction site. But the PDP and their coupon clippers, who are used to deceit and driven by propaganda, cannot rationalise good governance when they see one.”
