Obaseki Left N200bn Contractual Debts – Umakhihe

The immediate-past administration of Governor Godwin Obaseki left the new administration of Governor Monday Okpebholo with a considerable debt burden of about N200 billion, being outstanding commitments to contractors who were only given mobilisation fees.

The chairman of the Assets Verification Committee, which was constituted to investigate some activities of the previous administration, Dr Ernest Afolabi-Umakhihe, made this known during a press conference in Benin City, Edo State.

He noted that the Okpebholo administration cannot deny the Edo people the opportunity of good road networks, especially during this dry season. Hence, the government must act quickly to approve some ongoing road projects.

“There are substantial outstanding commitments concerning road infrastructure. No matter how indecent some of our findings are, the government has to explore the dry season to make an appreciable intervention in road construction.

“Most of the ongoing projects were awarded during the year 2024, and that leaves the new government with a huge burden amounting to about N200 billion being outstanding commitments to contractors who were only given mobilisation, which in some cases were paid back to government officials as disclosed by some contractors”, he said.

The Chairman said the award of significant contracts violated the Edo State Public Procurement Law, leading to several dubious variations of contract sums. He added that, in some cases, the variations were higher than the initial contract sum.

“The transaction on the Radisson Hotel project leaves so much to be desired. Whilst the State Government initiated the project by sourcing over N17.5b from the Stock Market and an initial payment of N2 billion for the acquisition of land, it is noted that just before the exit of the immediate past administration, the ownership had changed, leaving Edo State, the core investor with 20% ownership.

“The Museum of West Africa Arts—MOWAA is an independent private trust on government land. The Ministry of Arts, Culture, and Tourism has minimal project supervision. To date, Edo State has no equity stake in MOWAA, even though the State contributed N3.8 b.

“EDSG is committing to paying over N5b for a cyber security software license for the EdoGov platform for just three years from 2023 to 2025. Out of this sum, N1.7b has already been paid by the immediate past government. These are just some of the snippets of what we have unravelled.

“By the 6th January 2025 when we return, we will be looking at other critical sectors of the State: the housing sector, education (SUBEB and EDOBEST), Ministry of Environment, College of Health Sciences and Technology, College of Nursing Sciences, Ministry of Health, all Agricultural projects including grants from donor agencies, Edo Oil Palm Project, EDSOGPADEC, MOWAA, Edo Electrification Agency, sale of shares in BUA Cement, the Modular Refinery among others”, he disclosed.