Edo State Assets Verification Committee Uncovers N3.8bn Discrepancy In MOWAA Under Obaseki Administration
…State Lacks Equity Stake
By Katherine Abayomi.A.
The Edo Assests Verification Committee Upon investigating and findings stated on Thursday that the state government Under ex-governor Godwin Obaseki has spent N3.8b as contribution to the Museum of West Africa Arts (MOWAA) inspite of having no equity stake in the project.
“Edo government has no equity stake in the project ,the Museum is captured as an independent private trust but situated on the government land”.
Dr Ernest Afolabi Umakhihe, Chairman of the Committee speaking with newsmen in Benin stated that the Ministry of Arts ,Culture and Tourism has minimal supervision on the project.
He also said that the briefing was to make public some of the findings of the Committee’s which forms an interim report to guide the operations of government and governance. Also expressing reservations over the transaction on the RADISSION hotel Project.
And also noted that the Hotel project which was initiated by the state Government by Sourcing over N17.5b from Stock Market and an initial payment of N2b for acquisition of land.
“But just before the exit of the immediate past administration, the owernship had changed leaving Edo state, the core investor with 20% Ownership”.he stated.
He called for a changed to this requesting that the Edo state government must assume its prime position as the core investor and ownership of the Radission Hotel.He promised to give update to the finial reports.
The Commitee allegedly stated that the ongoing road projects in the State were awarded in 2024 and leaves the new government with a huge burden of outstanding Commitments amounting to about N200b to the contractors.
The Committee also revealed that contractors were only given mobilisation ,which was paid back to government officials according to findings.
“There are huge outstanding commitments in respect of road infrastructure. No matter how indecent some of our findings are, the government has to explore the dry season to make an appreciable intervention in road construction.
“We also observed poor level of supervision by the supervising Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
“Some road projects were not properly documented in the records of the Ministry of Roads and Bridges, now Ministry of Works.
“There were also non-adherence to the Edo State Public Procurement Law in the award of major contracts, which also led to several dubious variations of contract sums. In some cases, the variations were higher than the initial contract sum”, Umakhihe claimed.
According to the Committee Chairman, “We also observed that some Agencies were created by the last administration to execute some specific interest-based projects. They reported directly to the Governor and information about them are not readily available.
“Edo State Oil Palm Project Office is one of such agencies. This opaque approach necessitated the use of consultants with huge financial commitments expended by the past Government.
“The Greenfields Consultancy and Allied Services Limited and Greenzone Technologies took over the role of the Edo State Information Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) in engagingly contractors and vendors for EDSG Technology projects.
“They were in charge of identifying projects to be executed and selecting the vendors to execute them. Too much of bogus claims were replete in this sector.
“Imagine EDSG commiting to paying over N5b for cyber security software license for the EdoGov platform for just three years starting from 2023 to 2025.
“Out of this sum, N1.7b has already been paid by the immediate past Government.These are just some of the snippets of what we have unraveled. The job of the Committee is still huge.
“By 6th January, 2025 when we return, we will be looking at other critical sectors of the State; the housing sector, education (SUBEB and EDOBEST), Ministry of Environment, College of Health Sciences and Technology, College of Nursing Sciences, Ministry of Health,
“All Agricultural projects including grants from donor agencies, Edo Oil Palm Project, EDSOGPADEC, MOWAA, Edo Electrification Agency, sale of shares in BUA Cement, the Modular Refinery amongst others”.
“We just feel it is important to keep the public in the know of what we have done in the last three weeks.
“The work is not done yet but we are optimistic that with our commitment to details, we will come out with a comprehensive capture of our Assets and Liabilities that will guide the new government in making informed decisions henceforth”.