APC: PDP alleges strong bribery allegation against Okpebholo

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The Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) Edo State chapter has charged that Governor Monday Okpebholo intends to waste N2.8 billion to buy off opposition MPs in the State House of Assembly to switch to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

According to ZINGTIE, Chris Nehikhare, Publicity Secretary, Edo PDP Caretaker Committee, signed a statement containing the accusation.

According to ZINGTIE, the 24-member House has one member from the Labour Party and thirteen from the PDP.

Nehikhare claimed that despite the state’s ongoing instability, killings, and kidnappings of farmers and other citizens, Okpebholo intended to spend a significant sum of money bribing MPs to switch to the APC.

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’.

He said, “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 people of Edo State on political horse-trading for his own survival, while critical sectors of the state remain in dire need of government intervention.

“In the last few weeks alone, at least 34 innocent Edo citizens have allegedly been brutally murdered across various communities in the State as a result of rising insecurity. While properties worth millions of naira have been destroyed on the back of the ongoing security crisis.

“Small and large-scale farmers are being displaced daily, more communities are being sacked by rampaging kidnappers and herders, while others, including the city centre is being overrun by non-state actors, leaving residents in fear and economic activities disrupted.

“The state is currently grappling with severe infrastructure decay due to neglect. The health sector is in shambles, with hospitals and clinics lacking essential medical supplies, including the Edo Specialist Hospital, where even the most basic consumables are unavailable. More youths now look up to thugs as role models because the government has failed to provide meaningful opportunities for their engagement.

“Unfortunately, amidst all these challenges, Okpebholo’s only concern is his political survival, as he schemes, along with his many political godfathers, to squander billions of naira that should be used to improve the lives of Edo people, on inducing Assembly members to defect to the APC.

“This is executive rascality at its peak and we dare say that this brazen act of corruption and reckless misplacement of priorities is shameful and unacceptable.

“We are not however surprised by Okpebholo’s alleged insatiable appetite for power at the expense of development and security of the State, having come to the office unprepared through the backdoor,” he alleged.

However, he urged civil society organizations, anti-corruption organizations, and all well-meaning Edo people to stand out against the purported misuse of public resources and abuse of power.

He reiterated that the party is unfazed by the purportedly nefarious schemes of the state’s governor and QPC.

According to ZINGTIE, the party accused Okpebholo on March 3, 2025, of taking N750 million every month as a security vote, despite the fact that the state has turned into a refuge for criminal gangs and kidnappers.

According to the party, residents and business owners continue to live in constant terror as criminal gangs exploit the worsening security situation and operate with impunity.

The Edo State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Paul Ohonbamu, responded to the accusations by saying that if the opposition lawmakers left their party, it would be because they were tired of hanging around with weird bedfellows rather than for financial reasons, as the PDP spokesman claimed.

Ohonbamu stated in a statement titled “Nehikhare’s Defection Story: A lie by the Dead PDP in Edo State” dated March 7, 2025, that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state would not be able to survive the mass exodus of members to the All Progressive Congress (APC) if they continued to lament.

He claimed that there are clear signs that the PDP will soon vanish from the state and that the party will be saved regardless of the campaign of attacks and slander directed at the Okpebholo administration.

The statement read, “It is not surprising to know that PDP members in the State House of Assembly are going to cross over to the All Progressives Congress, APC .

“Chris Nehikhare lamented in a statement titled, Edo PDP condemns Okpebholo’s N200M bribery ploy to buy defection of each Assembly member, reckless misappropriation of state resources

“For the information of Edo People, The Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo will not give any money to induce members of the Edo State House of Assembly elected on the PDP platform to defect to the All Progressives Congress, APC.

“Interestingly, if PDP members in the State House of Assembly decide to defect, it is nothing but survivalist strategy, because Godwin Obaseki destroyed the Party with his bad and wicked policies which apparently led to the defeat of their Governorship Candidate Asue Ighodalo at the polls.

“The fact remains that any discerning and credible politician in the state now knows where the pendulum is swinging to and like they say, failure is an orphan.

“Therefore, it is not strange if members of the House of Assembly want to be on the winning team, because of the good works of the governor which have become the magic wand.”

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