Members of the Edo State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Action Group rose from an emergency meeting in Abuja, expressing concern over the spate of insecurity in the state.
Hon. Ogbeide Ifaluyi, who addressed reporters on behalf of the group in Abuja on Wednesday, also decried the economic hardship faced by the citizenry in Edo State since Governor Monday Okpebholo assumed the helm of affairs in the state.
Ifaluyi claimed that it is unfortunate that the industrious Edo people are facing the most socially and economically unfriendly times in its history, with millions of citizens and residents dealing with a very high level of insecurity, unprecedented brigandage, and sustained kidnapping ravaging the state, leaving investors fleeing and hundreds of small businesses closing shop.
They claimed that this year alone, almost 40 Edo citizens and residents have been killed, and several others have been kidnapped and remain missing. Adding to this, just last week, a young mother of two, by the name of Uyi Ebohon, was kidnapped from her home in Ekpoma, and her whereabouts are still unknown.
This, they noted, was a few days after three young men were brutally killed by suspected herders in their communities.
They argued that the development is a huge contrast to what was obtainable a few months ago under former Governor Godwin Obaseki, where insecurity was tackled head-on.
They recalled that Edo, under Obaseki’s watch, had a sophisticated command and control centre equipped with security gadgets that provided 24-hour surveillance of hotspots, preventing kidnappers from having a haven in forests.
In addition, the security architecture of the state was reorganised, developing a security network where local vigilante groups helped secure their communities, making Edo one of the safest states in Nigeria.
Lamenting the situation in the state, they claimed that businesses are forced to close before 7 p.m. to avoid being looted by criminals, leading to a significant drop in the state’s internally generated revenue (IGR) from about N7 billion in October under Godwin Obaseki to N3.5 billion in February 2025.
The group alleged that the state is losing revenue to non-state actors who divert taxes and levies from small businesses into private pockets.
They added: “The GDP of Edo has slipped from $25 billion as of October to about $17.6 billion today. The taxpayer count has dropped from 373,000 in July 2024 to less than 320,000 in just three months. This simply tells you that small businesses have lost confidence in the government and are avoiding or evading taxes.
“The digital platform used to collect taxes and levies by the previous government has been abolished, as this new administration has employed the use of street touts and enforced hooligans to collect taxes and levies by hand from business operators. Big investments are closing shop and leaving Edo for other states. This has significantly increased unemployment by 7%, as Edo now has an unemployment rate of 17%.
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“Edo is now unable to meet her UBEC counterpart funding quota to enable the state to access UBEC grants. The state is having a hard time meeting its obligations to pensioners, as the last arrears paid were made by Godwin Obaseki in August 2024, and the second batch was to be paid in January 2025.”
Alleging a high scale of fiscal rascality, gargantuan financial misappropriation, and mindless squandermania of state resources, they urged the Edo people to stand up and demand accountability.
Continuing they added, “A few weeks ago, the Edo people were deceived by the government when several buses were paraded on TV, and they announced that Edo Line is back. It has been several weeks, and not a single one of those Toyota Hiace buses is in sight anywhere in the state.
“The Edo people are grappling with untold hardship trying to move around the metropolis. If they are not being harassed by touts, they are stranded at bus parks because bus drivers are protesting. One could recall that under Godwin Obaseki, there was a free mass transit service for Edo people for almost 24 months. Edo residents could save thousands of naira daily due to free government transportation, but that has since been abolished.
“In just a few months, the Edo State Governor has committed impeachable offenses, such as spending money outside the budgetary allocation and without legislative approval. This Governor was the first to brazenly disobey the Supreme Court judgment granting financial autonomy to local government councils.
“He requested the suspension of local government chairmen by the House of Assembly and employed thugs to invade and take over the local government councils. Today, Edo is the only state without a legal local government authority to preside over the affairs of the people in several communities in the state. Because of this, salaries and wages of primary school teachers and local government employees are being owed, leaving families in total disarray.
“Just a few months ago, Edo was the number one state in digital transformation, with sophisticated digital infrastructure all over the state, making Edo the first state in West Africa to go paperless.
“Just a few months ago, the Edo Health Insurance Scheme was the most robust in Southern Nigeria, with over 350,000 Edo residents enrolled and enjoying comprehensive health insurance.
“A few months ago, Edo was being celebrated for the highly efficient and effective education reform initiative called EDOBEST, a programme that was recently adopted by the World Bank as a model for educational development in low-income countries.
“All of these amazing and ambitious progressions have been thrown into the dustbin, and Edo has retrogressed on all fronts.
“The Edo people, like never before, are in a hopeless state and are earnestly praying for the Edo Governorship Election Tribunal to stand up to the occasion and deliver justice to the Edo people by granting the prayers of Dr. Asue Ighodalo, who truly won the majority of lawful votes in the September 21, 2024, governorship election.
“As a group, we align our thoughts with the good people of Edo State, and we are hopeful that justice will prevail and Asue Ighodalo will be given the mandate offered to him by the good people of Edo State.”
