Edo Govt Criticizes LP Candidate Akpata, Claims He’s Unfit and Unprepared for Leadership After TV Interview

The appearance of the Labour Party, (LP) candidate for the September 21 governorship election in Edo State on Arise News on Thursday night during which he was interrogated on his developmental agenda for the state, has drawn flak from the state government which passed the verdict that the former president of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Olumide Osaigbovo Akpata, “does not have the faintest idea of what it takes to run government”, and lacks “creativity in thinking”.

Taking a swipe at Akpata, the state government, in a statement on Friday by Crusoe Osagie, special adviser to Governor Godwin Obaseki on media project, was miffed that the LP candidate could not answer questions on key areas of development, notably electricity and agriculture, and concluded that “Akpata is either not prepared for leadership, or he is out to take the people of Edo State for a ride”.

According to Osagie, “We watched the disgraceful outing of the Labour Party candidate in the September 21 Edo State governorship election, Olumide Akpata, where he fumbled with basic data on the developmental trends in Edo State, showcasing his unpreparedness for governance and leadership.

“Akpata, who participated in a show on a national television station on Thursday evening, was unable to answer questions on key areas of development, notably on electricity and agriculture.

“What stood out glaringly from his conversation was the fact that he maintained that he was ‘still working on the numbers’ and ‘still crunching the numbers’ when he was asked to provide data on how he intends to handle the development of the electricity and agriculture sectors of the state.

“Even when he went specific, he provided specious explanations on how he intends to fix electricity in the state. When compared against reality, it became obvious that Akpata is either not prepared for leadership or he is out to take the people of Edo State for a ride.

“His attempts to sound coherent was betrayed by the fact that his projects were far below the current level of development of the state’s electricity market. For instance, the state currently generates over 145MW of power through private power generating companies used in powering industries in the state. Some of the companies actively generating power include Ossiomo Power Company, Duport Energy Park, and Dangote Cement. Aside these, Azura generates over 500MW which is sent to the National Grid”.

While stating that the state government had also introduced the Renewable Power Initiative in collaboration with private players, which is powering communities with mini-power grids, Oagie said a number of communities have started enjoying the scheme, and a state-wide roll-out was underway.

He noted that throughout the 30-minute showtime, “Akpata was more fixated on alleged N16bn Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) funds due to the state monthly, highlighting an increase in revenue”, adding, it was clear that “Akpata does not have the faintest idea of what it takes to run government”.

Osagie said a serious candidate should rather be focused on how to diversify the government’s earnings to boost the government’s capacity to deliver good governance to the people, stressing that “It also unfortunately shows the lack of creativity in thinking”.

Describing as laughable and “a blatant lie” the “false narrative” being bandied by Akpata that the state had not attracted any foreign investment in the last eight years, Osagie listed investments attracted in manufacturing and agriculture from foreign companies in the last eight years to include “the 6600 barrels per day (bpd) modular refinery developed in partnership with China’s State oil corporation; SINOPEC and a $250m oil palm project being developed by Fayus Corp, a Sacramento-based company, in the United States”, while “the Ossiomo Power Company was also executed in partnership with CCETC Clean Energy Company, a Chinese-based gas power generation company”.

Berating the LP candidate for shamelessly flaunting polls conducted by “hungry social media bloggers” as sure path to winning the elections in the state, Osagie said if he was a serious candidate, “he would know better than to rubbish his candidature with such unserious and dishonourable materials”.

He said it was also insensitive for Akpata to dismiss the agitation by Esan people of Edo Central Senatorial District over the clamour for power shift to the area for equity and fairness, positing that his argument that zoning should be a party affair was “disingenuous and callous”.

Osagie advised that “instead of his unfortunate show of shame” Akpata should rather work to fix the numerous crises in the Labour Party in the state so that they can properly function as a serious opposition party.