Obaseki Counters Edo Govt On ₦600bn Debt

The immediate-past Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, has denied leaving behind a debt of N600 billion and has asked the Monday Okpehbolo-led administration to crosscheck with the Debt Management Office (DMO) before coming out with unfounded information.”
The state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Prince Kassim Afegbua, had in Benin claimed that the immediate past administration in the state left a whooping ₦600 billion debt.
Reacting to Afegbua’s claim via video call, Obaseki’s Media Adviser, Crusoe Osagie, challenged the current administration in the state to visit the DMO to see whether Edo drew such debt.
Crusoe, who said no government at whatever level could draw loans or enter into any debt arrangement without the knowledge and approval of the DMO, said lies being spewed by the Okpebholo’s administration was giving the country a bad image.
He said information like that give the impression that the state was being governed by people who don’t understand the process of governance. He described the claim as false and out of place.
On the planned probe of Museum of West Africa Arts (MOWA), Crusoe noted that MOWA remained an international brand that entered into a business agreement with Edo State with all T’s crossed and all I’s dotted.
He insisted that every record about the transaction between Radisson Hotel and the Edo State government was contained in the transition report.
He said, “MOWA is an international investment drawing funds from the German government, the United Kingdom’s government, and the French government for its development. You think such an investment will be put on a land that was not ceded to that organization by the state.
“These people just come out there and toss all kinds of irresponsible information out there. At the end of the day what happens is that all of these turn around to form the intelligence that are gathered out of Nigeria by the international community.