Edo State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Jarrett Tenebe, speaks to ADEYINKA ADEDIPE about the allegations against the state government and call for governor’s probe
What fact do you have to support your monumental fraud allegation against Governor Godwin Obaseki?
I made it clear on the day of our last press conference that anybody ready to go to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission should come to us. We are prepared to make the document available to such persons. A non-governmental organisation has approached us and we have made the records available to them. They have not denied all the allegations we have made because they are correct. If they were not, they would have been threatening us with a lawsuit.
Why wait for people to come get the documents from you instead of complaining to the EFCC?
We don’t want the issue politicised. If as a party, we make the report to the EFCC, they will think we are doing so because of the election. But a lot of people are already asking to have the documents. So, the people should be the ones to ask questions as to how their commonwealth is being spent. But a particular NGO has said it will ensure that erring officials are investigated and arrested.
Why are you against a government that has brought in a modular refinery and Ossiomo power plants among other investments to help its people?
What we are asking is the ownership of the refinery. The governor started by saying that it is the Edo refinery and when he was going to China to sign the MoU with SINOPEC, Victor Osime of AIPCC acted as a consultant but later went public to say 100 per cent of the company belonged to him. The question is, having used Edo money to do this transaction, why is Edo not part of it? That is the fraud we are pointing out.
What’s your take on the notion that your party is coming out with all these allegations due to the September 21 general election?
One thing about the Peoples Democratic Party is that they are confused at this stage, and I understand their problem. Every day, there is a mass exodus of people out of that party because of the way they have run the state aground. As a drowning party, they are hanging on to any straw and that is why they are making such a statement. The governor is leaving in November, and we are bringing out all these facts so that the EFCC will begin a probe.
We don’t want the governor to go into hiding after handing over. Even while I was the deputy chairman of the APC, I have done a petition to the EFCC on the Sobe Rice Farm and the taking over of the finances of the local government by the state government. We have also told the NGO that came for the documents to do a petition straight to the chairman of the EFCC in Abuja.
What’s your reaction to the description of your party as backward after you criticised the e-gov platform?
We appreciate that the state government has gone paperless and embraced technology, but we argue that why is he embracing the paperless system of doing with months to the end of his government having been in power for almost eight years?
They are doing all this to delete documents after they must have lost (the election), and our party will not be able to probe them. We are making the people aware of what is going on. They are dazed about how I am getting this accurate information which they have never contested.
Is it true that your party is engaging in distraction tactics as it has become impossible to sell your governorship candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo?
Senator Okpebholo has come out with a five-point agenda that is very clear – education, agriculture, security, empowerment, and provision of infrastructure. Our concern as a political party is the mismanagement under this government and we have to expose it. So, the idea of distraction does not come in. Unfortunately, the PDP candidate is also mentioned because he has been part of this government.
You have been challenged to bring out documents to back your claim, how soon are you doing that?
I have all the documents of approval by the governor and other senior officers in government. I even have a letter from the state government asking the EFCC to give the commissioner of finance more time to appear before it. The problem they have is that they don’t know how I got the documents, but they came from top officials in their government.
They know that the document is authentic, and I am getting them from the disgruntled people in government. I got more documents on Thursday, and they are desperate to secure a loan of $7m which we are trying to block. The governor does not even know that the state has passed its threshold of loans they can secure.