POLITICS: PDP Accuses Oshiomole Of Spending N142m On Projects Commissioning

The Edo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP) has accused Governor Adams Oshiomhole of
spending N142million when the All Progressives
Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Gen.
Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), and Sen. Bola Tinubu, the
National Leader of the party were in the state to
commission some projects executed by his
administration.
The state chairman of the party, Chief Dan Orbih, made
the allegation at Igboubazuwa, headquarters of Ovia
South West Local Government Area, during a rally
organized to welcome defectors from the APC to the
PDP.
“Governor Oshiomhole sat in his office and signed two
vouchers to commission projects on 28th and 29th
November. In those vouchers, it was written, ‘voucher
to commission projects in Edo State by two eminent
Nigerians, Retired General Muhammadu Buhari and
Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’. In those vouchers, the sum of
N76 and N66 million were signed away simply to cut
tapes for projects that had earlier been commissioned.
“How can a government sign away N142 million just for
Buhari and Tinubu to come to cut tape. Never before in
the history of this state had we witnessed this level of
misappropriation of public fund,” Orbih lamented.
Special Adviser to Governor Adams Oshiomhole on
Media Affairs, Prince Kassim Afegbua, in his response,
however described Orbih’s allegation as spurious. “Do
we run Edo State Government in PDP secretariat?” he
queried, adding that “Anybody can cook up memos but
I am not aware that our memos are missing”.
Similarly, State Commissioner for Information, Louis
Odion, described the vouchers paraded by the PDP
Chairman as forged.
“With Comrade Adams Oshiomhole commissioning
world-class projects all over Edo State in the last two
months, we knew PDP would be gnashing their
deformed teeth in envy. But we least expected malice
would push them into forging vouchers to back up a
shameless lie in their evil desperation to tarnish
Oshiomhole’s golden records,” a statement by Odion
read.
“But Edo people are not deceived. They know their
governor is a very prudent man. That is why even
today, whereas PDP-led Federal Government is owing
workers arrears of salaries despite cornering whopping
52 percent of federation account, Edo is not owing
workers.
“The joke is on Edo PDP. With less than six weeks to
the general elections, it is laughable that PDP, rather
than show remorse by first apologising to Edo people
for under-developing the state for 10 years, has
resorted to peddling fake vouchers for a transaction
that exists only in their crooked imagination. It is very
cheap indeed.”