Edo, Obaseki renew hostilities over hotel project

File: Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo.

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The Edo State Government and former Governor Godwin Obaseki on Sunday renewed hostilities over the funding and the state’s stake in the Radisson Hotel in Benin, the state capital.

Last week, the State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Kassim Afegbua, faulted Obaseki’s claim that the state committed ₦2bn to acquire the property which was later developed into the hotel.

Afegbua revealed that the state owed ₦25bn sourced from the stock market, noting that the loan was being repaid at ₦385m monthly from the state’s Internally Generated Revenue through an irrevocable standing payment order.

However, the Edo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, through its Publicity Secretary, Dan Osa-Ogbegie, fired back in a statement on Saturday, accusing the Okpebholo-led administration of engaging in politics of destruction.

He said the hotel project was structured as a Public-Private Partnership, explaining that the state’s ₦2bn contribution was seed equity injected to de-risk the project and attract credible private capital.

Osa-Ogbegie added that even before the commencement of operations, the state’s investment in the Radisson project had appreciated significantly and was conservatively valued at over ₦65bn, with further upside expected once operations began.

However, restating the state government’s position on Sunday, Afegbua said the hotel project and the Museum of West African Art reeked of the same pattern of profligacy, fraud, malfeasance, predatory conduct and dubious control by what he described as a government that operated in a wholesale acquisitive, draconian, dictatorial and prebendal manner for eight years.

He said, “The Radisson Hotel project is yet another prey that they pounced on. If Godwin Obaseki had any modicum of scruples, in his claim to be aiming at developing Edo State, he should have engaged in less transactions. Everything was dark; no transparency, no probity, and no accountability.

“We may not possess the uncanny ingenuity of financial mastery and wizardry of a smart alec, but we do know fraud is different from error when we see the fact. In the case of Radisson Hotel, the evidence of financial malfeasance during the Obaseki regime is stark.

“He took ₦25bn from the stock market, in the name of the Edo State Government, invested same in a legacy project, and midstream, invited a brand new investor to purchase the project, and then ceded only 20 per cent equity to the state that had expended ₦25bn on the project.

“To date, no record of this investor ploughing money into the project to warrant his 80 per cent equity ab initio. The ₦25bn sourced from the stock market is still being paid through an irrevocable standing payment order of ₦385m monthly by the Edo State Government.

“The Radisson Hotel remains that of the Edo State Government. Every kobo of Edo taxpayers’ money spent and invested in the project would be accounted for. You cannot use the Edo State Government as a collateral entity to source ₦25bn from the stock market and invest the money for the benefit of your friends and cronies.”

Responding, Obaseki’s media aide, Crusoe Osagie, accused the Okpebholo administration of deliberately stalling high-impact investments capable of driving employment and economic growth.

He said the Radisson Hotel project was part of a broader tourism development strategy, noting that, “The Radisson Hotel was conceived as part of a larger tourism ecosystem that included MOWAA, the Benin Royal Museum, support for the National Museum at Ring Road and complementary hospitality infrastructure.”

Osagie explained that after the initial government investment, the project was transferred to a private investor at a significantly higher valuation.

He said, “The project was passed on to a private investor at a value multiple times higher than what the Edo State Government invested.

“The investor took over the full assets and liabilities, while Edo State retained 20 per cent equity in the business.”

He warned that the investments were designed to directly and indirectly absorb not less than 50,000 employees.

“By stalling them through propaganda and media trials, this government is destroying jobs and discouraging investors,” he said.

Osagie added, “Edo people must ask a simple question. How does chasing away investors, dragging projects before the EFCC and the courts, and dismantling viable investments translate into jobs, growth and improved living standards for our people?”

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