Edo PDP Blasts Okpebholo Over Plan to Float State Airline

Felix Omoh-Asun in Benin

The Edo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has expressed concern over Edo State government’s plan to establish an airline for the state.

Reacting to Governor Monday Okpebholo’s visit to the Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo in Abuja on Thursday, where he made known the desire to float a state-owned airline, the PDP said it’s ill conceived and misplaced priority.

Publicity Secretary of the state PDP, Dan Osa-Ogbegie, stated that the “proposal is a textbook example of misplaced priority and yet another exposure of a government profoundly disconnected from the urgent realities confronting Edo people.”

The governor had said the initiative will help strengthen the aviation ecosystem in the state.

A statement by the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the governor, Dr. Patrick Ebojele, said the high-level engagement between Okpebholo and Keyamo centred on the proposed Edo Air initiative, a strategic project of the state government aimed at strengthening the state’s aviation ecosystem, improving air connectivity, stimulating economic activities, and opening new investment opportunities across the state.

However, the PDP said: “At a time when Edo State is grappling with decaying infrastructure, worsening urban conditions, and stalled strategic projects, the idea of establishing an airline is not only unrealistic but profoundly insensitive. Running an airline is capital-intensive, technically demanding, and historically disastrous for most sub-national governments in Nigeria. It requires massive upfront investment, continuous subsidies, and world-class operational competence, none of which the Edo State Government presently demonstrates.

“Benin City, the capital of Edo State, has regrettably become a shadow of what a state capital should be in a modern federation. Compared with other state capitals across Nigeria, Benin City today presents an unbelievably bucolic and embarrassing outlook. Roads within the metropolis are largely impassable, urban planning has collapsed, drainage systems are neglected, and basic municipal services are either weak or completely absent. This is a crying shame for a city of Benin’s history, heritage, and enormous potential.

“Critical state assets and initiatives which this administration met in pristine or near-functional condition are already in visible decline. The Museum of West African Art (MOWAA), once projected as a flagship cultural and tourism driver, is grounded. The Radisson Hotel project has stagnated at virtually the same level for months.

“The Ossiomo Power project, which should be energising industrial growth, is drifting dangerously towards a comatose state. EdoGIS, a revenue-critical land administration institution, is almost non-existent in its impact, efficiency, and credibility. These failures strike at the very heart of development, jobs, revenue generation, and investor confidence, yet they remain largely unaddressed.

“Rather than confront these glaring failures, Governor Monday Okpebholo has displayed an uncanny penchant for indulging in white elephant projects that offer optics without substance. The ongoing flyovers at Ramat Park and Adesuwa Junction on Sapele Road exemplify this tendency.”

The party said against this bleak backdrop, the sudden announcement of plans to float a state airline is not merely unserious; it is diversionary and cretinous. “When roads in the metropolis are barely motorable, when public transport is chaotic, when healthcare facilities are overstretched, when schools lack basic infrastructure, and when security remains fragile, proposing an airline betrays a frightening absence of judgment, economic sense, and development logic.

“The Edo PDP firmly believes that scarce state revenues should be channelled into areas with direct, broad-based impact: comprehensive rehabilitation of urban and inter-city roads; modern drainage and flood-control systems; revitalisation of public schools and hospitals; reliable power and water supply; support for small and medium-scale enterprises; youth skills acquisition and job creation; security architecture; and the completion and optimisation of existing strategic projects already commenced with public funds,” the party added.

The Edo PDP therefore called on the state government to jettison the idea and redirect its focus to the pressing needs of Edo people.