Edo Govt blames APC for mismanaging economy over N28bn hotel project

The state government attributed the variation in the contract sum to inflation induced by the APC-led Federal Government, barely 24 hours after the leadership of the APC’s Edo State chapter accused the government led by Governor Godwin Obaseki of allegedly squandering over N28 billion on a hotel project.

According to the BETA NEWS, Emperor Jarret Tenebe, the APC chairman for Edo State, accused Governor Obaseki’s administration on Saturday of misusing public funds on projects like the Radisson while concealing the ownership status of the project and others, like the Edo Modular refinery, from public view.

Tenebe had demanded that Governor Obaseki, PDP candidate Asue Ighodalo, and his running mate, Osarodion Ogie, be investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, or EFCC.

The state government did not refute the amount provided by the main opposition party for the contract awarded for the hotel’s reconstruction, though, in response to the APC’s accusations on Sunday in a statement titled “Edo 2024: Clear Incompetence, Ignorance on Contemporary Governance Forcing APC to Deploy Diversionary Campaign Tactics.”

The statement, which was made available to newsmen in Benin City and signed by Crusoe Osagie, Special Adviser to the Edo State Governor on Media Projects, claimed that many projects were subject to contract variations because of the naira’s depreciating value against other world currencies and the alleged poor management of the economy.

He claims: “They minimize the investment in the Radisson Hotel, a significant boost to the state’s lodging market. Today, Edo only has one global hospitality chain—Radisson—and that is the Protea brand, which is run by Marriot. Even though the state has a lot of excellent local brands, the state’s developing tourism industry stands to gain from having more foreign brands.

“The state has lost the hosting rights to a lot of international events on account of the limited presence of international brands. The argument that the cost of the hotel has increased from the initial outlay is quite pathetic because that is on the APC-controlled Federal Government.

“As a result of their poor management of the economy and the declining value of the naira against other world currencies, a lot of projects have had to be subjected to contract variations.

“Today, the development is costing more to complete because the fundamentals have changed and there is a need to reassess financing. The APC would appreciate this if they were better schooled and had a basic understanding of macroeconomic dynamics.”

Osagie also discussed accusations leveled against the creation and development of initiatives such as the Edo Modular Refinery, the e-governance Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, and the EFCC’s probe into the purported mismanagement of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and its involvement in agriculture. He suggested that instead of shadow-boxing, APC talk about topics.