The Edo State Governor-select, aware of the inevitable failure awaiting his administration due to his incompetence and unpreparedness for office, has already started setting up excuses for his inescapable, spectacular failure during his short tenure in office.

Since assuming office, Okpebholo has done nothing except hop from one project of his predecessor to another to pose for photos. From commissioning a boutique owned by a known thug to ravenously chasing after white elephant projects like the very laughable and ill-thought-out aircraft assembling project in Benin, the governor-select has proven himself utterly clueless about governance and administration.

Without a plan, vision, or agenda for the development of the State or its people, Okpebholo is gradually running the State aground. There is an impending financial crisis in the State as its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) is set to nosedive from N8 billion to N2 billion monthly, as a result of the financial paralysis caused by turf wars over revenue collection by thugs he hired and empowered during the last governorship election. His gross mismanagement of the economy is already negatively impacting businesses and ordinary citizens, who are finding it increasingly difficult to survive on a daily basis.

In an attempt to cover up this glaring, monumental failure in barely 30 days in office, Okpebholo has begun making excuses with false claims about non-existent debts, knowing full well that in the coming months, he will be unable to meet obligations to workers, pensioners, and contractors, among others.

He is therefore setting up his predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Godwin Obaseki, as his fall guy by concocting excuses and fabricating lies against the immediate past governor, so that when the failure inevitably comes, he can easily point the finger at Obaseki.

We want to remind Okpebholo that he remains the governor of Edo State, pending the outcome of the ongoing judicial process challenging his declaration as the winner of the September 21 governorship election, which was adjudged as one of the most flawed and manipulated elections in the history of Nigeria. But until that decision is overturned, which we are confident will happen in a few months time, Okpebholo is the one sitting in the office of the governor. No excuses will be accepted by the people of Edo State for his failure to pay salaries or pensions as and when due. No one will entertain his lies about the decline in IGR or his inability to govern the State effectively.

We urge the general public to disregard his lies. The statements are blatant fabrications, and there are no such debts owed. The Edo State Government was in a strong financial position when it handed over to the Monday Okpebholo-led government. We had a balance of about N30 billion in the state account. The state was financially stable, and there were no such debts, contrary to the false claims being spread by the clueless governor-select, Monday Okpebholo, and his media hirelings.

We are also calling on Edo citizens not to give in to his excuses, but to demand good governance and the timely payment of salaries and pensions as well as projects contractual obligations, as there is no excuse for failure.

Crusoe Osagie, Media Adviser to His Excellency, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, Edo State Governor (2016-2024)