Opposition slams Edo govt over Okpebholo’s London trip

The opposition political parties in Edo State on Friday slammed Governor Monday Okpebholo over his trip to London, describing the trip as a jamboree given the number of state officials that accompanied the governor.

Governor Okpebholo, it would be recalled, embarked on the United Kingdom trip to interact with Edo indigenes in the Diaspora with the sole aim of bringing them home to invest in the state.

But the opposition parties said the trip was another waste of Edo State resources, as the earlier trip embarked upon by the governor to Glasgow, Scotland, last year, did not yield any result, saying that the $250m investment deal claimed to have been the fallout of the Glasgow trip had remained an “audio investment.”

This was just as the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Prince Kassim Afegbua, defended the number of personnel on the trip, adding that 90 per cent of the people self-sponsored the trip.

Speaking to journalists in Benin on Friday, the spokesman for the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the state, Christopher Ojeikere, said Edo people were still waiting for the outcome of Governor Okpebholo’s visit to Scotland in 2025.

“We are still waiting for the audio $250m projects to be executed after the Scotland visit. We have not seen any project.

“The Governor is seeking opportunity to travel the world and the President has made so much money available to them. That is the only motive. We have enough problem at home and enough local solutions which the Governor has not exploited.

“The last time, he spent one week but what did he come back with? We don’t take them serious. We regret that at a time Nigeria is making so much money, it is falling into the hands of people who has no plan to take our people out of poverty,” Ojeikere lamented.

Also, the National Coordinator of the Coalition of Registered Political Parties (CRPP), Dr Samson Isibor, described the trip as a wasteful exercise.

According to him, “Edo does not deserve this type of ticks Okpebholo is using. Nothing works in this state. The earlier trip to Scotland brought nothing to the state. It is corruption galore. Look at the fly-overs. He went there for jamboree and not for any economic value.

“He went to Scotland last year and no investor came,” Isibor reiterated.

Reacting to the views, Prince Afegbua explained that the London meeting, organised by the London Professional Training Centre, was to enable the governor to interact with Edo people in the Diaspora and inform them about what is happening in the state.

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According to the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, “More than 90% of those who travelled sponsored themselves to the UK.

“Maybe those who are saying the trip cost N2bn saw it in their dreams. They should know that Governor Monday Okpebholo does not waste money on things like this. He told people that want to go should go but they should not rely on government funding.

“The visit is to interact with the Edos in the Diaspora, to bring them up to speed with what is happening back home. The whole idea is for sensitisation.

“Do not forget national election is coming and lots of those in diaspora do make remittances back home. If they know that the government is working, they will be able to tell their relations back home to support the APC,” Afegbua explained.