Governor Adams Oshiomhole
Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has thrown more light into the government’s plan to look into the alleged unlawful withdrawal of $31 million from the government coffers for a questionable business and other matters which were considered abuse of power by the former Governor Lucky Igbinedion administration.
Speaking to members of the civil society groups and students of the Ambrose Alli University, who thronged the Government House in their thousands to pledge their support to the government on its policies, especially the Land Use Charge Law, Oshiomhole said the Igbinedion family had thrown caution to the wind and was using its television and radio stations to wage a war against him because he recovered over 200,000 hectares of land illegally dashed out to Chief Gabriel Igbinedion by his son, Lucky, when he was governor.
Saying he was not deterred by the media campaign against him, Oshiomhole said he would do what is always right in the interest of the Edo State taxpayers, no matter whose ox is gored.
The Governor said: “Let me thank all of you for coming out in this huge number to express your solidarity, your support and your endorsement of my stewardship here in Osadebey Avenue.
“Let me assure you, I will continue without fear of man, but with the fear of God to provide leadership that will deliver prosperity to the great people of this great state.
To be able to do that, everybody, and I mean everybody born of a woman that lives in this state, must be subjected to the rule of law.
“In the interest of Edo people, even the one yet unborn, I want to be remembered after my stewardship not only for roads, hospitals, for schools, much more importantly, I want to be remembered as the man who brought an end to exemption.
There is no more exemption in Edo State. I want to be remembered as the man who took from those who have bastardized, raped and privatized the resources of Edo State, used our money to build their private universities and walk around our streets when they are supposed to be in prison.
“Let me share with you some of the things that are going on and why they are angry. I did not promise to make everybody happy. What I promised was to make the majority happy. I will publish records in black and white and Edo people will be shocked how they have been raped by the gang masters of original fraudster.
“You are here looking for a small parcel of land and Lucky Igbinedion, former Governor here, gave out to his own father, Gabriel Igbinedion, over 200,000 acres of government land. They took that land on the ground that they will use it for mechanized farming.
That is what is in the books, but what is on ground is that Igbinedion takes this land and gives this land to cocoa farmers, some of them from Edo, some from Yorubaland. These cocoa farmers will farm and sweat to grow their cocoa on government land, Igbinedion will sit in his house on which he is not paying ground rent and is collecting royalties.
Is Igbinedion the Oba of Benin? The great Oba of the great Benin Kingdom never subjected his people to that level of exploitation. Can you accept that one chief collects royalties as if he is a traditional ruler?
“Based on the powers vested in me, as the elected Governor of Edo State, I used those privileges to revoke the over 200,000 hectares of land that the son gave to Igbinedion the father. I revoked it and I returned it to government.
“Let me tell you what I have done. I told those Cocoa farmers: you are Nigerians, you do not need resident permit to live in any part of Nigeria as a Nigerian citizen.
Why will a Nigerian be asked to pay rent on a farmland to a chief who collects royalties? And I directed: ‘You go and do your farming and whatever you make from it, you pay tax, personal income tax to Edo State Government, to ensure that Edo people have the resources to develop Edo State.’ And I said never again should you pay money to a chief.
“That is the battle line that Igbinedion has been fighting and he tells me he is above the law and I tell him, if you fault the law, you will go to prison. He must obey the law. Laws made by Edo State Government and laws made by the Federal Government. If he does not want to obey those laws, he will have to relocate.
“You need to hear as students of AAU how Igbinedion raided Edo State resources. You know that in AAU, we have College of Medicine where we are training doctors. In 2000 when Lucky was in government, AAU was producing medical students. These medical students are supposed to be attached to a hospital for their clinicals
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