Edo State is building up while the books are breaking down.
Edo Governor Monday Okpebholo is facing backlash. And it is not from opposition Twitter. It is from contractors, civil society, and common sense.
Three issues have converged: flyover contracts, unpaid contractors, and alleged ₦14.15 billion in extra-budgetary spendings.
First, the flyovers. Commissioned with fanfare, praised as “Edo is shining.” But where are the bills of quantities? Where is the procurement process? When a project appears overnight, citizens have a right to ask: who got it, for how much, and with what oversight?
Second, unpaid contractors. Men who poured concrete, moved equipment, fed workers are now stranded. A government that cannot pay those who build cannot claim to be building. Debt to contractors becomes debt to the people.
Third, the ₦14.15 billion alleged extra-budgetary spendings. That is money outside the approved budget. Money spent without the House’s consent. In democracy, the budget is law. Extra-budgetary spending is not flexibility. It is impunity.
Borrowing has jumped. Debt is rising. Yet contractors are crying and projects lack transparency.
Leadership is not commissioning. It is accounting.
Where are the projects to match the loans? Where are the payments to match the promises? Where is the budget to match the spending?
Catastrophe is flyovers without financial footing. Affliction is “shining” roads built on unpaid backs.
Ruination is spending ₦14.15 billion outside the law and calling it development.
Edo deserves light. Not just flyovers in the dark.
+2348039289375
bcradle@ymail.com
