Edo Govt Attacks Akpata, Alleges LP Candidate Peddling Falsehood

The Special Adviser to the Edo State Governor on Media Project, Crusoe Osagie, has lambasted the Labour Party candidate in the September 21 Edo State governorship election, Olumide Akpata, alleging that the opposition candidate peddled falsehood on national television.

According to Osagie, such inglorious acts won’t get Akpata to Government House.

Osagie, in a statement, said Akpata, who participated in a show on a national television station on Thursday evening, was unable to answer questions on key areas of development, notably on electricity and agriculture.

According to him, “We watched the disgraceful outing of the Labour Party candidate in the September 21 Edo State governorship election, Olumide Akpata, where he fumbled with basic data on the developmental trends in Edo State, showcasing his unpreparedness for governance and leadership.

“Akpata, who participated in a show on a national television station on Thursday evening, was unable to answer questions on key areas of development, notably on electricity and agriculture.

“What stood out glaringly from his conversation was the fact that he maintained that he was ‘still working on the numbers’ and ‘still crunching the numbers’ when he was asked to provide data on how he intends to handle the development of the electricity and agriculture sectors of the State.

“Even when he went specific, he provided specious explanations on how he intends to fix electricity in the State. When compared against reality, it became obvious that Akpata is either not prepared for leadership or he is out to take the people of Edo State for a ride.

“His attempts to sound coherent were betrayed by the fact that his projects were far below the current level of development of the State’s electricity market. For instance, the State currently generates over 145MW of power through private power generating companies used in powering industries in the State. Some of the companies actively generating power include Ossiomo Power Company, Duport Energy Park and Dangote Cement. Aside from these, Azura generates over 500MW which is sent to the National Grid.”

He further stated, “The State Government has also introduced the Renewable Power Initiative in collaboration with private players, which is powering communities with mini-power grids. Several communities have started enjoying the scheme and a state-wide roll-out is underway.

“Throughout the 30-minute showtime, Akpata was more fixated on an alleged N16bn Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) funds due to the State monthly, highlighting an increase in revenue. Pray tell, how can the State’s revenue with commensurate increase in economic and productive activity.  Akpata does not have the faintest idea of what it takes to run a government. A serious candidate should rather be focused on how to diversify the government’s earnings to boost the government’s capacity to deliver good governance to the people. It also unfortunately shows the lack of creativity in thinking.

“It is also laughable that Akpata would bandy the false narrative that Edo State has not attracted any foreign investment in the last eight years. This is a blatant lie. Edo has attracted investments in manufacturing and agriculture from foreign companies in the last eight years under Governor Godwin Obaseki.

“This includes the 6600 barrels per day (bpd) modular refinery developed in partnership with China’s State oil corporation, SINOPEC and a $250m oil palm project being developed by Fayus Corp, a Sacramento-based company, in the United States. Ossiomo Power Company was also executed in partnership with CCETC Clean Energy Company, a Chinese-based gas power generation company.