The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State on Sunday ran down the 2022 budget proposal of Governor Godwin Obaseki which he submitted to the ten man state house of assembly last Wednesday alleging that he duplicated projects to siphon state funds.

A statement by the Assistant State Publicity of the party, Victor Ofure Osehobo said the budget proposal by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led government in the state was unrealistic.

Obaseki had submitted a budget proposal of N214.2b which he tagged ‘Budget of Renewal, Hope and Growth.’

The statement said Obaseki had last year said his government had closed a N25billion 5-year bond at a record price of nine per cent to fund the 2021 budget but did not mention the current status of the N25 Billion bond.

He statement reads, “On a closer look, the 2022 Obaseki budget proposal, is completely unrealistic and duplicitously embellished with impractical predictions, a development that confirms fears by many Edo people that this administration is obviously still trying unsuccessfully to lay a foundation for governance as Obaseki himself declared, 5 years on!

“The proposal again illustrates that Governor Obaseki has perfected the art of wasting Edo state’s funds on frivolities; how does he explain the allocation of N21 Billion for government buildings and another N15 Billion to enhance the work environment.

“As expected, the Obaseki 2022 estimates is padded and this can be deduced from such spurious allocations as providing social and youth development, N5billion; technology enhancement, N7.6billion; effective fiscal and business-friendly regulatory policies, N4.5billion.

“The proposal includes water, which is non-existent and which the government has never attempted to provide anywhere in the state, for N1.2billion. This is as ridiculous as the provision of N1.5billion for citizen re-orientation and social protection, and N9.2billion for public safety and security, which are suspicious and questionable, and calls for answers.”

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The party claimed that the education sector was worse hit with the governor’s position that children in primary schools in Nigeria now learn three times more than they used to learn with the old pedagogue and that the school has the least number of out of school in the country. He alleged that the governor had no plan of repaying the several loans and bonds.

“The Obaseki-led PDP Government certainly is trying to use its “bogus” MEGA programme and “phantom” technology cum public and civil service reforms and the creation of an investor friendly environment in the state as cover and conduit to take loans and cancel repayments.”

The Presiding Bishop, House of God Int’l Church, Athan Azubuike has claimed the Igbos will always play second fiddle and may never produce the president of Nigeria even when they have all it takes to lead the country in 2023.

The cleric said this at an event for young clergy in Owerri.

He insisted that the average Igbo man is a trader and not a politician as they do not have the skills to mobilise people at the grassroots

He said, ”One thing about an Igbo man is that an average Igbo person is a trader only interested in profit-making, we are not interested in working. We are not interested in the grassroots. Once it’s a few months to elections, Igbo politicians will start visiting churches in remote villages, that is the sense of a trader,
not a politician.”

”Let me be very frank with all on why Igbos may never produce a president but play second fiddle by asking who is coming out in Igbo land? You’ll tell me it’s Rochas Okorocha, Anyim Pius Anyim, Sam Ohuabunwa among others but since Pius became the Senate President, how many times have you seen him and others in Imo State. The presidency is not a local government election .”

He said,” Today, people are talking about the 2023 presidency and I ask those Igbo politicians claiming to be interested in the race what have they been doing to galvanize the grassroots.”

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He further queried,” Why is it that an Igbo man is only interested in meeting people only when it’s a few months to any election. It’s arrant nonsense. If the program organized by Mezie Imo Clergy Forum today was held in Yoruba land or the North, this place will be filled with great personalities but here the reverse is the case

” A good politician works before he shows his ambition. A good politician works before galvanizing for election, that is why I said an Igbo man is a trader, not a politician.

“As a presidential aspirant, you need to move around, increase your horizon and coordinate with other zones even before now.

… Say President Was ‘Packaged’ By Southern Politicians 2015

The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), has admitted that President Muhammadu Buhari appointed more northerners into critical national positions than the Southern part of the country.

Its spokesman, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, while baring his mind on some national issues, admitted that President Muhammadu Buhari is a creation of Southern political forces in 2015.

He said President was presented by Southern politicians as an alternative to former President Goodluck Jonathan.

The CNG spokesman claimed that to everyone knowledge, President Buhari was not the candidate for the North in 2015, but that he was packaged by southern political forces right from the APC contraption to his victory at the primaries.

He explained that when Buhari) was presented by the South as the only alternative to Jonathan, the North, which was groaning under the burden of Boko Haram bombs and bullets at that time, was left with no option.

Abdul-Azeez Suleiman said the South had benefitted more from the Buhari presidency than the North.

The CNG said, “We all can testify that the North has been the major casualty of the policies of the Buhari administration while the South is the major beneficiary. As far as the North is concerned, Buhari was not the candidate for the North but an arrangement made by the South to suit certain interests.”

He is of the view that appointing more northerners in positions should not be used to measure the prosperity of the people.

“This (appointment of northerners into critical positions) cannot be a yardstick for judging a people’s development or prosperity.”

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Suleiman explained that with all the propaganda about the lopsidedness in Buhari’s appointments into key security positions, the North continues to face the severest security situation than all the other regions?

He said being a northerner in the office does not translate to preference in terms of service delivery, claiming that the positions could be occupied by any other region or tribe.