By Jethro Ibileke
A member of the APC Transition Committee in Edo, Prince Kassim Afegbuah, has alleged that Governor Godwin Obaseki sent a supplementary budget to the State House with just two weeks time to hand over power.
Afegbua said this in a statement on Tuesday titled: “Empty treasury awaits Okpebholo as Obaseki wants additional budget”.
However, he revealed that the Speaker of the Assembly, Blessing Agbebaku, rejected the budget request.
In his words: “The request for approval of the supplementary budget was presented to the State Assembly on Monday 28 October 2024, stating that he intends to leave the funds for the incoming Governor; Senator Okpebholo will have to bide his time while handling business.
“Surprisingly, like the enigma of the sudden turn of events, the Speaker of the Assembly, Honorable Blessing Agbebaku, has turned down the request of Gov. Obaseki even in his difficult times.
“This stunned many observers, giving a glimpse of what was going to happen if the former “Iron Bender” left power.”
Afegbua recalled that Obaseki had earlier presented three supplementary budgets to the House of Assembly, which were immediately approved.
“Shortly before the September 21 gubernatorial election, the same House of Assembly gave categorical approval to the governor’s N450 billion supplementary request despite criticisms from members of the public.
“Overall, Governor Obaseki has spent a total of N1.5trn Naira in his 8 years as governor without any improvement or development of roads.
“As of today, the three senatorial districts are separated due to bad roads across the state, as it has become very difficult to travel from one place to another.
“Motorists have resorted to building roads for themselves in the bush as all the internal roads have also deteriorated due to the pressure of heavy trucks on the existing roads,” he alleged.
Meanwhile, State Communications and Orientation Commissioner Chris Nehikhare did not respond to an inquiry made on his WhatsApp message regarding the alleged supplementary budget.
The Speaker of the State Assembly, Blessing Agbebaku, could also not be reached for comment as calls made to his mobile phone could not be connected.
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