The Special Adviser to the Edo State Governor on Media Projects, Mr. Crusoe Osagie has restated that the candidate of the Labour Party, Olumide Akpata, in the September 21 governorship election cannot peddle falsehoods to attain political power.

In a statement, Osagie insisted that Akpata is unprepared for governance and leadership as he remains a usurper who is on the ballot ‘simply for the need to massage his bloated ego.’

According to him, “Reading laboriously through George Ise-Idehen’s futile attempt to repair the battered image of his principal and candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Olumide Akpata, one gets the sense of the source of fuel for the supposed learned attorney’s voyage into the world of fantasy.

“We are certain that he shall be startled out of his daydream on Saturday, September 21 when the news of his woeful defeat hits him like a tonne of bricks.

“Although this effort at responding to the tissue of well-worded falsehood is unnecessary to cement the sterling and undeniable legacies of His Excellency, Governor Godwin Obaseki, I am inclined to make it, taking guidance from a Benin proverb which states that: ‘if you don’t identify a spoiler for who he is, he may be mistaken for a patriot.’

“No matter how hard Ise-Idehen tries to hide a literally overweight Akpata in borrowed robes, he remains exactly who he is: a usurper, who cannot elevate the interest of the Edo Central Senatorial District of Edo State above his quest for personal aggrandizement.

Osagie said that Akpata does not understand how to subordinate his inordinate ambition for power to the peace, harmony and common good of the Edo people, noting: “Interestingly, all the other flaws paraded by Akpata take root in the pride and arrogance that drives him to violate our Esan brothers and sisters. From his inability to settle down into conjugal life at 52 years old to his lack of respect for people who are superior to him by virtue of their age and position in society, his unsuitability for the office of a governor shines through.

“With pride and ego the size of his physical appearance, Akpata is not the sort of person that can be trusted with power without endangering the liberty of the common people in society.”

Osagie noted that “It is pertinent to stress that the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration is proud of its illustrious legacy of service to Edo people, which is anchored on solid socio-economic indices of development. It is only proper to put issues in perspective in the light of the misleading publication by the Labour Party in reaction to efforts to highlight the vacuity of their candidate’s rhetoric.

“The biggest signpost of Governor Obaseki’s performance is the growth in Edo’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which has risen from $10bn to $26bn in the last eight years. The facts about the State’s economic growth trajectory are bare and easily verifiable. There is no reason to fabricate stories about this, as Ise-Idehen and his party’s candidate are now trying to do. The growth of the State’s GDP is to the credit of both the governor and the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Asue Ighodalo, who served as Chair of the Edo Economic Summit, Alaghodaro.

“There is no better way to advertise anyone than that. The growth of the economy is indicative of the milestones recorded in attracting new investors, job creation, industrial output and infrastructure development. The companies that created these jobs are located across the State and can be verified. Maybe Olumide Akpata who only visits Edo State intermittently for ‘Owanbe parties’ may miss them.”

On power reforms in Edo State, Osagie said: “It is quite disingenuous of Ise-Idehen to disparage the government’s reforms of the power sector. There are only a handful of States in Nigeria that now have an active electricity market and Edo is one of them. In fact, before now, the State had attracted investors into the power sector, ensuring the distribution of power to government facilities, industrial clusters and private residences. Edo is one of the first States in Nigeria to leverage the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) to commence the distribution of power within a city centre with a grid that is exclusive of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC).

“So now, with the state having full control of regulating electricity generation, transmission and distribution within its domain, more private investors are trooping to the State to invest in the power sector. No other State has made as much progress in liberalizing its power sector like Edo State has done under Governor Obaseki. If Akpata and Ise-Idehen were not killjoys, they would have acknowledged the impact of these reforms.”

Commenting on the rise in Internally Generated Revenue, Osagie said: “It is also curious that Ise-Idehen failed to admit that Obaseki’s expert handling of Edo affairs resulted in the rise of revenues. The State today boasts of a monthly revenue profile of N16bn, with Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) contributing a significant sum. Growing from N1.6bn monthly in 2015 to around N6bn today, the State’s IGR can effectively settle the Edo’s public wage bill without recourse to FAAC allocations.

“It is this healthy revenue position that has attracted the likes of Akpata into the political arena. Before now, his likes didn’t consider it worth their while to venture into politics or public service because the State was previously considered a ‘civil service’ State until Obaseki wielded the magic wand and took the Edo economy to the greatest heights yet.”

Commenting on the new museum and Radisson hotel projects in Edo State, Osagie states: “As someone who has travelled widely, one fails to understand why Akpata would seek to lampoon the museum project, which is a major milestone in boosting tourist receipts in Edo State. Same as the Radisson Hotel project. Perhaps, the Museum of West African Art, (MOWAA), would rank as the first genuine effort to establish a world-class centre that would harness the economic, social and cultural value of our State’s rich heritage.

“Akpata’s attack against these worthwhile projects smirks of dishonesty and vacuous reasoning in the light of his supposed exposure and pedigree. Akpata lodges in five-star hotels whenever he travels across the globe, but he and his lackey are shamelessly criticizing the governor’s move to bring a five-star hotel to his home State.

“The Radisson Hotel and MOWAA projects are expected to transform the State into a tourist destination in Nigeria. Tourism is the next gold, especially for a State like Edo with a rich heritage to showcase to the world. As a tourist, Akpata pays top dollar to visit modern cities with state-of-the-art touristic experiences. Yet, he is against efforts to replicate these in Edo with its attendant knock-on effects on tourism and the hospitality sector.”

On the statistics on foreign investment in the State, he said: “While the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) might hold data on economic activities across the State, we are convinced that whatever parameters used in measuring Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow into Edo State is flawed. If the NBS says there has not been investment flowing into the State, they are invited to confirm the over $2bn worth of investment that the Obaseki-led administration has attracted into the State.

“These include investment by Fayus Inc., which is building a food processing plant in Edo State, with particular interest in cassava production; Dufil Foods, which has completed a plantation and cassava flour production facility; SINOPEC and AIPCC, which have constructed the 6600 barrels per day (bpd) modular refinery in Ologbo, Ikpoba Okha LGA; CCETC Clean Energy, which partnered on the delivery of the Ossiomo Power Project, and Uranium One, which is investing in lithium production. The rise in the State’s IGR of which Akpata has been very outspoken about is also enough evidence to show that a lot of new capital now sits in Edo State.”

Speaking on the zoning to Edo Central Senatorial District, he said: “Ise-Idehen attempted to be smart by half when he tried to shift goal posts regarding the State’s zoning arrangement. If his intentions were noble and in good faith, Akpata, his principal, would certainly not be in this race, but rather concede his interest to the people of Edo Central Senatorial District.

“It stands against reason that he would state that he prefers a zoning system that is based on a consensus when, in fact, he is the only candidate that has flouted the unscripted but much-acknowledged consensus among Edo people for fairness and justice. This would mean ensuring that a governor of Esan extraction occupies the stool at Dennis Osadebey Avenue after Edo South and Edo North have successively taken their turns.

On the propaganda around polls ahead of the election, he said: “It is interesting that Akpata and Ise-Idehen would now claim that the victory they got from polls organised on BeeTV and Edo Pride are merely ‘illustrative.’ Guess where else they have won the forthcoming elections? On Tunde Ednut’s and Instablog’s Instagram pages. Pathetic. Akpata has been the butt of jokes in the last few days because of his straight-faced reference to these social media polls as proof that he is popular among the electorate. But he disparages other polls from far more authoritative sources such as Africa Polling Institute (API) Polls, which has put the candidate of the PDP, Asue Ighodalo, ahead of other candidates by miles.

“Akpata’s arrogance, ego and dishonesty cannot be hidden and is now even more apparent as the polls draw close. But Edo people will not be deceived by his faux patriotism and pretense to speak or stand with them when, as we can all see, he is unprepared for governance. He will receive a comprehensive lecture in politics when the results of September 21 election are released and Edo people would have made a decision on continuity rather than cast their vote for a candidate that is on the ballot simply for the need to massage his bloated ego.”