The Peoples Democratic Party in Edo State has accused Governor Monday Okpebholo of misleading the public over the ongoing Benin-Asaba Expressway reconstruction, calling his statements “a distortion of facts”.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the party’s publicity secretary, Chris Nehikhare, said the road project was neither initiated by Governor Okpebholo nor tied to President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
“The governor’s narrative distorts public records,” Nehikhare said. “This is not a federal initiative. It’s a legacy project initiated and structured by the Obaseki administration.”
He explained that in January 2024, then-Governor Godwin Obaseki signed a ₦228 billion concession agreement involving Triple A Infrastructure, InfraCorp and Africa Plus Partners for the reconstruction. The project, he noted, followed due process under the Federal Government’s Highway Development and Management Initiative.
“This was not a standard road contract,” Nehikhare added. “It was a strategic, long-term investment plan designed to unlock economic value for Edo and the South-South region.”
The PDP also criticised the governor’s media appearances and inspection tours at the project site, describing them as “empty PR moves”.
“The governor is yet to initiate a single major project of his own,” the statement continued. “Edo people are politically conscious. They cannot be deceived by recycled propaganda.”
During a recent visit to the site, Okpebholo had credited the project to Tinubu’s federal agenda.
“This is part of the RHA of Mr President,” the governor said. “He is taking this road straight to Asaba. It is going to be 10 lanes. Five on one side, five on the other.”
He said the project reflects the federal government’s commitment to development.
“This is the fruit of that flag-off,” he told journalists, referring to a previous ceremony attended by both the Works and Finance Ministers.
But the PDP insists the facts don’t back the governor’s claims. “The APC is trying to take ownership of a vision it never created,” Nehikhare said. “Let him come up with something new instead of renaming what he inherited.”
