Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has been accused of attempting to steal credit for the construction of the ‘privately-owned’ modular refinery in Ologbo, Edo State “because his administration lacks any achievement to show for its four-year term.”

The APC made this accusation in a press conference monitored by Igbere TV on Sunday where Mr. John Mayaki, the Chairman of the Edo APC Media Campaign Council, condemned the Governor’s ‘irresponsible and mischievous’ latching on to the project “to enjoy undeserved plaudits” and challenged him to publicize the contribution of his government to the success of the project.

Explaining that the modular refinery is an FG-backed privately-funded project undertaken by the AIPCC Energy Limited in a joint venture between AFCOM and Peiyang Chemical Equipment Company of China, Mayaki said the Edo Governor, contrary to his media posture, frustrated the development of the project “with his disastrous economic policies and disregard for the rule of law which have driven investors away from the State.”

He also challenged the Governor to name at least five projects that have emanated from the MOUs “he nomadically signed in four years”, stating that “a Governor that failed to fulfill his own promises to build an industrial park and GeleGele seaport should not be laying claims to a private initiative to deflect blame and criticism arising from his failure.”

The statement read, “As we draw nearer to September 19, the day Edo people will head to the polls to determine the leadership of the state for another four years, it has become glaring to Mr. Godwin Obaseki and his party of tax-collectors that their reign of falsehood, terror, and lackluster leadership will be brought to an end, and a new era of responsible and competent leadership under an APC government led by Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu will be ushered in.

“This realization, and the consequence it holds for this group of corrupt and irresponsible persons, has seen them scurrying around for survival, making truth, common sense, and decency easy casualties in their vile campaign of deceit and falsehood.

“As it stands now, no one can debate the fact that Mr. Godwin Obaseki is falsehood personified, a wrapped bag of lies that continues to give. From falsified and inconsistent academic records and credentials, the baloney has come to the point of broad daylight robbery of projects and initiatives. Today, the lie is with the Edo Modular refinery at Ologbo, a project that having been funded by both foreign businesses and the federal government, has neared completion and commissioning.

“And then, suddenly, Obaseki the MoU and sleeping governor emerges from his slumber, scheming to mount tape and ribbon at the site and take glory for a project he knew and contributed little to. To be clear, and for the records, it is important to state here that the Edo Refinery and Petrochemical Company is owned by AIPCC Energy Limited, a joint venture between AFCOM and Peiyang Chemical Equipment Company of China and was built at the cost of 10.2million dollars. The refinery will be producing diesel, Naptha, and Fuel oil (LPFO).

“The Federal Government supported the project by granting duty waivers on refinery equipment and components. The PCC, equally, is a partner to the EPC. If the Federal Government that offered tangible support which if factored in cost would amount to millions of dollars not claiming credit for the project, why is the Obaseki-administration parading the premises of the refinery, claiming to have achieved a landmark project?

“The answer is clear: the Edo State Government of Godwin Obaseki has achieved nothing for the past four years they have been at the helm. Now, then, that it has come to a period where it is important to showcase its job portfolio, the administration is fumbling and biting dust, looking for whom to deceive and mislead.

“While Obaseki is desperate trying to be at the front, center, and back of a private project that his administration in fact frustrated with his disastrous economic policies and pulverizing of the strong economic structures in place before his tragic emergence, the sites of his promised Industrial Park and GeleGele Seaport remain desolate, standing as a symbolic portrayal of his entire four-year reign: empty, dull, and without any life.”