Okpebholo Wooing House Members With ₦200 Million – PDP Alleges

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has alleged that Governor Monday Okepbholo is offering ₦200 million to Edo House of Assembly members elected on its platform.

Naija News reports that the party alleged that the ₦200 million was promised to PDP House members that would defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

In a statement on Thursday, Edo PDP Publicity Secretary, Chris Osa Nehikhare, said the Governor preferred to waste resources while the state’s infrastructure decays.

“The PDP is aware of the ploy by Senator Monday Okpebholo to splash N200 million each to induce members of the Edo State House of Assembly elected on the PDP platform to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

“We condemn in the strongest terms Senator Okpebholo’s desperate plans to squander the resources of the people of Edo State on political horse-trading for his own survival, while critical sectors of the state remain in dire need of government intervention,” he said.

According to PDP, Edo State is challenged by insecurity, poor health sector and decayed infrastructure, yet the Governor allegedly aims to spend billions to buy lawmakers.

“Unfortunately, amidst all these challenges, Okpebholo’s only concern is his political survival, as he schemes, along with his many political godfathers, to squander billions of naira that should be used to improve the lives of Edo people, on inducing Assembly members to defect to the APC.

“This is executive rascality at its peak and we dare say that this brazen act of corruption and reckless misplacement of priorities is shameful and unacceptable,” he stated.

PDP called on residents of the state, civil society organizations and anti-corruption agencies to rise against the Governor’s alleged reckless spending of the state’s resources.

“We are not however surprised by Okpebholo’s insatiable appetite for power at the expense of development and security of the State, having come to office unprepared through the backdoor via an election that is widely considered the most flawed and manipulated in the history of Nigeria and whose outcome is keenly contested in court.

“While we call on all well-meaning Edo people, civil society groups, and anti-corruption agencies to rise against this abuse of power and reckless misappropriation of state resources, we want to restate that as a party, we are undaunted by the evil machinations of Senator Okpebholo and the APC as we remain the popular party in the State,” he added.