Edo State Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, has been accused of planning to bribe opposition lawmakers in the State House of Assembly to defect to the All Progressives Congress, APC, with the sum of N2.8 billion to bribe.
The allegation was contained in a statement signed by the Publicity Secretary of the Edo PDP Caretaker Committee, Chris Nehikhare and made available to newsmen.
The Publicity Secretary alleged that Okpebholo planned to spend a huge amount to bribe members of the legislative chamber to defect to the APC in the midst of insecurity, incessant killings and kidnapping of farmers and other residents in the state.
The statement dated March 6, 2025 was titled, ‘Edo PDP condemns Okpebholo’s N200M bribery ploy to buy defection of each assembly member. A reckless misappropriation of state resources’.
“The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is aware of the ploy by Senator Monday Okpebholo to splash N200 million each to induce members of the Edo State House of Assembly elected on the PDP platform to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“We condemn in the strongest terms Senator Okpebholo’s desperate plans to squander the resources of the State on political horse-trading for his own survival, while critical sectors of the state remain in dire need of government intervention,” Nehikhare stated.
The publicity secretary observed that no fewer than 34 innocent Edo citizens have allegedly been brutally murdered across various communities in the state as a result of rising insecurity in the last few weeks alone.
He equally stated that properties worth millions of naira have been destroyed in the wake of the security crisis.
Nehikhare, however, urged all well-meaning Edo people, civil society groups, and anti-corruption agencies to rise against the alleged abuse of power and reckless misappropriation of state resources.
He restated that as a party, they are undaunted by the alleged evil machinations of the governor and QPC in the state.
In his reaction to the allegations, the Edo State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Paul Ohonbamu,
maintained that if the opposition legislators abandoned their political party it would not be because of any pecuniary consideration as alleged by the PDP spokesman, but because they are fed up staying with strange bed fellows.
In a statement dated March 7, 2025 and titled, “Nehikhare’s Defection Story: A lie by the Dead PDP in Edo State’, Ohonbamu noted that the lamentation of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the state would not help the political party to survive the mass exodus of members to the All Progressive Congress, APC.
The commissioner added that there are strong indications that PDP would soon cease to exist in the state and that no amount of campaign of calumny and attack against the Okpebholo administration, would save the party.
