By Kolawole Ojebisi
Edo State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Tony Aziegbemi, has explained why he would not dwell much on gaffe committed by the incumbent Edo state governor, Monday Okpebholo, while presenting the state’s 2025 Appropriation Bill, stressing that there are more serious issues with the proposed Budget estimates.
Aziegbemi gave his explanation in an interview published by Saturday Punch newspaper.
Recall that Edo State governor, Monday Okpebholo, made a gaffe while presenting the state 2025 Appropriation Bill on Wednesday.The development drew reactions from Nigerians, including people of the state.
When asked about his opinion on the gaffe, the PDP Chairman said the gaffe paled into insignificance when compared with what he described as the “big picture” stressing that the embarrassing development was a reflection of the quality and competence of the people surrounding the Edo State governor.
He said, “I would rather focus on his (Governor Okpebholo) purpose of visiting the House of Assembly. It was to present the 2025 Appropriation Bill to the House of Assembly. I have more fundamental issues with that presentation than the issue of not being able to read those figures. We should be looking at the big picture. Anybody can have a bad day, and maybe that was just a bad day for him. We hope it doesn’t happen again.
“However, I want Nigerians and Edo people to look at the following issues. Look at those around him (governor); has he been able to put together a solid team that will make sure that whenever he is presenting anything, everything is in good shape, the fonts, the figures, and the words are there? If they have not, I will hold them responsible for that gaffe, and that means he has not been able to put together a strong team around him. That is serious because that means we will continue to have this kind of gaffe in the future.”
Aziegbemi also noted that a critical look at the budget presented by Okpebholo would reveal that his team did a shoddy job adding that it doesn’t reflect a shred of meticulousness.
“Secondly, the budget was increased by 25 per cent. Unfortunately, we did not see the performance of the budget in 2024. What was the percentage of performance? What was the cash backing? Which projects were done, and which ones were not done? When you increase a budget in this environment by 25 per cent, where are you looking to get those revenues to back up that increase?
“Two sources were not revealed to us. I believe that the budget was hurriedly put together; I think he didn’t participate in it, and I believe that those who did it were only doing copy and paste. We are in a very serious situation. He (the governor) doesn’t seem to be in sync with those around him. He knows he cannot do this thing alone; he must have a strong team around him.
“People cannot just put something together for you and give it to you to go to the House of Assembly and read…He flags off a flyover from Ramat Park to wherever without any appropriation, no design, no tenders’ board, no executive council; who does that?
“Everything he (Governor Okpebholo) has done is to go to a facility built by Governor Obaseki, he sees a crack in the wall and says, ‘Oh, it is a substandard job’. You can see how mediocre these guys are. If you try looking at what he has done, you will weep for the state.” the Edo PDP Chairman stated.
