By Mudiaga Affe
Drums of a new battle have been beating in the Edo State, the Heartbeat of the nation, in the last one week.  A storm over a N30bn Stormwater Project initiated in 2010 by a former governor of the state, Adams Oshiomhole, has ignited a rumpus between Oshiomhole and his successor, Governor Godwin Obaseki.

Obaseki says the project, which was a signature and legacy project of Oshiomhole, also the former National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, was designed ab initio to “defraud the state.”

He also vowed to get to the root of the matter by instituting a probe. He specifically lashed out at the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Mr. Clem Agba, who he accused of allegedly squandering the state’s resources on the ‘white elephant’.

Agba was directly in charge of the project as commissioner for the Environment and Public Utilities.

Since the governor’s angst on February 22, the state has not been the same again. Tongues have been wagging, and the public is demanding answers to unexplained issues shrouding the contract and execution of the project designed to frontally tackle the Benin city drainage menace.

Photos: Security operatives foil plot to burn Edo govt property

Was the N30b allegedly spent on the project worth it? Did Edo tax payers have full value for the project which they, and future generations will have to pay in many years? Was the money flushed down the drain or a scheme designed to defraud the people, as alleged by the governor? Questions, questions!

The now controversial project, which has many ‘catchment areas,’ was meant to direct the flow of rainwater into the two major watersheds, which are the Ikpoba River and Ogba River.

Exclusive: I support Obaseki’s probe of Benin N30bn storm water project- Agba

Some of the ‘catchment areas’ that were reportedly fixed during the Oshiomhole administration, according to informed source, include the Upper Lawani; Ugbowo Road (Tomline) to Eghosa Grammar School; five Junction where there are eleven streets; Okhoro catchment and the CBD/Airport Road catchment. And for a while, it appeared that temporary succour had returned to those areas.

Another source told ThisNigeria that there were many other areas that “will still need to be designed and constructed to complete the masterplan in order to solve the flooding problem of Benin city.”

Obaseki’s outburst

However, flooding has continued to ravage the city, causing citizens untold agony.  This state of affairs must have forced the governor to lash out in frustration at the money spent, when juxtaposed against the problems the project was designed to solve.

During an inspection of the Textile Mill Road catchment of the project last Monday, Obaseki said the stormwater project was a ploy to defraud the people of the state.

He said, “You can see for yourself that the so-called stormwater project was a fraud; it was a contract to defraud Edo people. From what I can see now, the stormwater project in this catchment area was never designed to take water away from the area. The area was never drained. You can see the level of what we are doing now as compared with that of the previous administration.

“It is an almost two-metre difference. There is no way you can drain water from a low land into higher ground. We say we have experts and paid over N30bn for this project. The person that supervised this project today calls himself a minister supervising bigger projects for the Federal Government. This is not acceptable.”

He went further to accuse Agba over his role in supervising the project when he was commissioner under the Oshiomhole administration. Obaseki then pledged to probe the project and recover money that may have been stolen in the course of its implementation.

The governor’s grouse

ThisNigeria was told by an insider in the Oshiomhole administration that the N25bn tranche used to implement the first phase of the project was sourced from the Nigerian Stock Exchange, and had reportedly been paid back by the (Oshiomhole-led) government. We could not immediately verify this claim as of the time of this report.

Obaseki’s grouse, according to a top government source, is that the huge fund expended in the project has not yielded its desired result. “The project aims to prevent flood and erosion from the East/West catchment area of Benin City. As we speak, the problem is not solved and that is why the government is doing what it is doing to achieve the master plan,” the source stated.

It was learnt that the state government had recently spent about N3bn to achieve progress in the project.

Obaseki continued, “They spent N30bn claiming that they want to take away the suffering of Edo people, de-flood the area and restore value to the people’s property. Look at what has happened now to this project for five years.

“With what we have done now with less amount of money, we are going to finally drain this area and bring back life to the people in this catchment area. I don’t like probing but this time we have to set up a panel to get the facts of what happened. We can’t throw away such a large amount of money. People must be made to account for their time in service in government.

“They have to explain to us how they spent the N30bn on a project they claim will drain water from a community. But the project drains the water to nowhere. They have the boldness to claim that we abandoned the project which was never made or designed to work in the first place.

“We will take the necessary precaution to recover all the money due to Edo people that was stolen from this project.”

Reactions to the governor’s allegations

A former commissioner during Oshiomhole’s administration, who prefers not to be named, said Obaseki “has been slow” in continuing with other phases of the project.

The commissioner, who said he was privy to the implementation of the project, said the money borrowed from the Capital Market was repaid before Obaseki assumed office as governor in 2016. He said, “Governor Obaseki was part and parcel of that project because it was his company that finalised the arrangement for the N25bn bond that was secured from the Capital Market. Well, that money was paid back in October 2016 before Oshiomhole left office.

“The governor is aware that the money has been paid, because the Internally Generated Revenue of the state was used as collateral when the money was being sourced. There was an Irrevocable Standing Order of N520m monthly deduction from the state’s IGR.

“The whole gamut of that project is that if Obaseki had continued with the project when he came in 2016, the Benin erosion and flooding would have been 80 percent solved.

“Those drainages were due for desilting in March 2017 but he refused to desilt them. He abandoned the whole project because he does not want to touch anything linked with Oshiomhole. Part of that project was the five junctions that we did, if you had been there before and you know what was done, you will appreciate it.

“Again, we expanded the Ugbowo five junction road by creating an additional lane. There is an underground drain through Textile Mill Road while there is an open drain from that junction to Eghosa Grammar School and Upper Mission Road. There is also the underground drain running from Ring Road, Oba Palace through Airport Road to Ogba River.

“What is required to be done to address the flood matter is just a follow-up drains as contained in the master plan. The only place that there is still a challenge is the Government Reservation Areas (GRA) because the whole of that area has no underground drain. We only have receptacle centres at Adesuwa and Water Resources. But the truth is that he does not want to touch anything called Oshiomhole,” he added.

The ex-commissioner’s claim was dismissed as self-serving and clearly defensive. An aide to Obaseki queried: “Just like the governor asked, if the plan had been well-executed, how come we are having all these issues? How come, the whole city after a whopping N30bn expended still has all these problems? No excuse or rationalisation will do for the squandering of the people’s resources. This is taxpayers’ money we are talking about. When the probe commences, let them go there with their defences.”

However, a Benin-based public affairs analyst, Dr Osaro Osayande, in a published article titled: “ Benin Stormwater Project: Situating Obaseki’s self-indicting verdict in the proper context” dared the governor to institute a probe.

He said, among other things, that as the chairman of the Economic Team during the Oshiomhole administration, Obaseki should have complained of the fraud in the project at that time.

“The buck stops at a governor’s table”, said Osarodion Ogie, the Secretary to the State Government in response to the claim that Obaseki, himself and John Inegbedion were part of the government that supervised the project.

“An adviser is an adviser. Yes, he has responsibilities, and can be held liable for his duties, but ultimately the man elected to lead the people is the governor, assisted by his deputy. Oshiomhole was governor at the time of this Stormwater project.”

The drama, however, assumed a new twist on February 23 when the state government said it foiled a ploy to destroy critical documents of the N30bn stormwater project in the Ministry of Environment and Sustainability.

Ogie, in a statement, said the government would ensure that it uncovered the details surrounding the project and its execution and assured that all those culpable would be brought to justice. The government, it was learnt, is already scrutinising documents relating to the project to commence the probe as indicated by Obaseki.

By any standard, the mere mention of N30bn fraud in a state in the country will attract the attention of well-meaning citizens because it is a huge fund that can address several infrastructural deficits that are seeking urgent attention in nearly all the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

Meanwhile, Agba, said he supported the probe

He noted, “Your excellency, please rest assured that I wholeheartedly welcome and support your widely publicised decision to institute a probe panel to look into the Stormwater project, though you have already assumed the roles of the accuser, prosecutor, and judge on the issue. “It is a welcome development as all ministries, consultants and all other participants in the project would have an opportunity to state their side of the story for posterity’s sake.

“I make bold to say that I am proud of the role the Ministry of Environment played in the stormwater project and I am always available to defend my role as the commissioner of the ministry on this and any other project that I handled in the course of my service to Edo people.

“Further to the foregoing, I was also taken aback by the N30bn you peddled as expenditure on the project. You know, and I dare say without any fear of contradiction, that this is not only false but also outlandishly erroneous, misleading, and patently mischievous. 

“As the then chairman of the Edo State Economic Team, you were privy to the conception, planning, execution, and expenditure on the project.

“Also, your excellency cannot claim to not know that only the sum of N22bn had been paid to the contractor for 70 per cent of the project delivered before you took over as governor and that by a resolution by the State Executive Council, the commissioner for finance was mandated to make payments directly to contractors for all projects of the government.

“I was therefore surprised at your decision to call me out on the expenditure of N30bn on the Benin Stormwater project knowing full well that I neither expended such money, nor did I have any mandate to authorise payments as the funds were not domiciled in the ministry of environment.”