After weeks of embarrassing his party and facing a likely defeat, APC governorship candidate Senate Monday Okpebholo finally emerged, albeit briefly, to answer softball questions about his bid to lead the state. He appeared on BBC Pidgin, where he avoided the challenge of communicating in standard English. Even then, his responses to questions about his disappearing act and mumbo jumbo rallies raised more questions.
The interview was marred by astonishing admissions and own goals, revealing a clouded mind. Okpebholo lamented the state of federal roads in Edo State, seemingly forgetting that his party has controlled federal spending for nearly a decade. If the APC has failed to fix these roads, making it difficult for Okpebholo to visit his home state, why should voters elect the same party to solve the problem? His admission only fueled animosity toward his party, and his proposed solution made matters worse.
Okpebholo’s solution to the problem of bad APC-Federal roads in Edo State is to fix them and then inflate the bill for the federal government to refund. It is easy to draw a connection between this casual admission of a planned crime and his running mate’s colorful past. What Okpebholo described bears a disturbing resemblance to advance fee fraud, allegations of which reportedly led to Dennis Idahosa’s controversial exit from the administration of Adams Oshiomhole.
According to Louis Odion, the then Information Commissioner, the government received a series of petitions from overseas detailing Dennis Idahosa’s alleged involvement in what was described as “industrial scale 419”. The EFCC may need to monitor this duo closely, considering they are currently in the National Assembly where they influence public spending. Is there any possibility of such inflation and padding going on?
Okpebholo also rambled about Dr. Asue Ighodalo’s role in the incumbent Obaseki administration as ‘Chief Economic Adviser.’ When the interviewer reminded him of both Asue and Obaseki’s contributions to the success of Oshiomhole, which Okpebholo had repeatedly alluded to, he suddenly changed tone and began to yell, “on what capacity” – a grammatically incorrect query – before demanding to see an official letter of engagement to confirm the claim. Can Okpebholo also present a letter from Obaseki appointing Dr. Asue Ighodalo as Chief Economic Adviser? Meanwhile, it is on record that Oshiomhole, in his own words, credited Governor Obaseki and his team for the economic success he achieved as governor.
The bulk of the interview was forgettable, as Okpebholo merely repeated phrases such as “enabling environment,” which he undoubtedly crammed minutes before the interview and could not elaborate on coherently. Without his two elder whisperers at his side to correct and press his buttons, he stumbled from error to error, unwittingly revealing the barren state of his mind. He is simply not governor quality.
