Governor-elect Okpebholo Debunks $45.21 Million Deal with Chinese Bank
BENIN-CITY/Nigeria: In a decisive rebuttal, Edo State Governor-elect, Senator Monday Okpebholo, has categorically denied allegations of signing a $45.21 million agreement with the Chinese government to fund flyover bridges in the state.
He assured Edo residents that he would not govern through Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) without substantial development outcomes, a model he criticised as emblematic of the outgoing administration under Governor Godwin Obaseki.
The clarification came in response to accusations by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which claimed Okpebholo had entered into a multi-million dollar arrangement with China Exim Bank. Speaking through his media aide, Godswill Inegbe, Senator Okpebholo dismissed the assertions as baseless and unsubstantiated, attributing them to political actors “still nursing wounds” from their loss in the 21 September gubernatorial election.
“As a governor-elect, I lack the official authority to secure loans on behalf of Edo State,” Okpebholo stated, highlighting the inaccuracy of the claims. Instead, he indicated his focus would be on mitigating the state’s existing debt, amassed under Obaseki’s tenure, without evident developmental returns.
In his statement, Okpebholo reaffirmed his commitment to transparent governance, vowing to address Edo State’s fiscal challenges with diligence and responsibility, steering clear of the MoU-heavy approach that, he asserted, failed to yield meaningful progress for Edo’s people.
Full text of the statement…
*Re: Ahead of Inauguration: Akpakomiza signs a $45.21m MoU with a Chinese Bank to build flyovers in Benin City.
Their lies and mischief have no end!
We wish to draw the attention of the general public to the mischievous publication, which is speculating that the winner of the 21st November governorship election in Edo state, Senator Monday Okpebholo was in talks with a Chinese agency to obtain a loan of $45.21 million to execute the construction of three flyovers in Benin city.
Ordinarily, we would not have bothered to react to such distractions but since our investigation has revealed that the report was actually orchestrated by those still licking their wounds from the recent defeat, we are constrained to put the record straight.
The Governor-elect, Senator Monday Okpebholo, on invitation, was in the office of the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria in Abuja when the photograph they are now sharing on internet was taken.
The Governor-elect was not on a mission to sign any Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the China-Exim Bank for loan as dubiously claimed in the said publication.
Understandably, as Governor-elect, Senator Okpebholo, is not in any official capacity to obtain any loan on behalf of the State, rather, he is working on how to offset the numerous loans obtained by the outgoing administration without any correlating development.
The Governor-elect, being a realist, will not build his administration on MoUs, and neither will he become another MoU Governor of Edo State.
The agents of the outgoing administration and members of the defeated PDP that are spreading false rumours about the Governor-elect should focus on the transition process, which in any case they are working tirelessly to truncate.
The Governor-elect will not take advice from those who have failed and mortgaged the future of Edo people over the past seven years.
The Governor-elect will not be a looter of public funds as Governor of Edo state, rather, he will judiciously manage the resources that belongs to Edo people to develop Edo State.
Instead of resorting to promotion of lies and falsehoods, we expect the mischief makers to be apologising to the good people of the State while undergoing penance for their atrocities.
We expect them to confess their sins and seek for forgiveness from the people of Edo State, whom they have traumatised financially, mentally, and otherwise in the past seven years!
E-Signed:
Godswill Inegbe, S.A Media to Senator Monday Okpebholo,
