My administration not hindered by debt – Obaseki

Our attention has been drawn to publications with headline suggesting that the Obaseki government is hindered by huge inherited debts.

We want to unequivocally state that this report is completely false and none of the media outfits that published it can provide any proof what so ever, either by voice recording or signed statement, to show that Obaseki made this comment.

 This is simply because the statement is not true and was never made.

Edo people and all Nigerians are advised to completely disregard and discountenance the report as fake news and a mere fabrication with no basis whatsoever in fact.

The report is the figment of the imagination of the individuals who published it. The publication goes a long way to show how much the noble journalism profession has been invaded by people who do not have any training what so ever to do the job.

The Edo State Government under the leadership of Governor Godwin Obaseki is not hindered by  debt obligations.

All our projects are being undertaken as planned and the terms of our facilities from the World Bank and the Federal Government are liberal with repayment period of over twenty (20) years.

As chairman of the Economic Team, under former governor Adams Oshiomhole, Governor Obaseki negotiated most of these concessionary loans from International Development Agencies (IDAs).

Thankfully, we have road and other infrastructure to show for these facilities across the state today.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that ruled the state for close to a decade ran the state aground as Edo infrastructural facilities were in  a state of decay as at the time the Comrade Adams Oshiomhole-led interventionist administration took over power.

Edo roads were called “Lucky Stones”, a metaphor for the shoddy road patchwork done by the then PDP administration,  using oversize stones. Some roads were ‘constructed’ on paper, but were not constructed in real life.

The allocated funds were used for frivolous birthday parties at a time thousands of Lower and Upper Sokponba residents were declared as people living in  ‘Morocco’ and others in  ‘Spain’, separated by the impassable and abandoned St Maria Goretti Road Junction.

Today, Teachers’ House in Ogida area, the popular Five Junction on Uselu-Lagos Road, and several such areas in the state that were cut off from Benin City are being accessed by road users with great pleasure.

The ongoing efforts at consolidating on these achievements have ushered our people into a new era that is driven by industrialisation, with the coming on stream of the fertiliser plant in Auchi, which will be followed by the Benin Industrial Park, the Benin River Port amongst others.

• Crusoe Osagie, Special Adviser on Media and Communication Strategy to Edo State Governor