With less than four days to the governorship election in Edo State, a former Governor of the state and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP Chief Lucky Igbinedion, has said the next PDP government in the state will meet “an empty treasury and a big hole”.
The former governor was reacting to the claim by Governor Adams Oshiomhole that his (Igbinedion) government failed woefully and dared him to walk freely on the roads of the state.
But Igbinedion fired back, saying he pitied the PDP government that will take over from Oshiomhole because of the debt profile of the state.
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The former governor said he prayed daily for the incoming governor to have the wisdom and ingenuity to return the state to sound footing “because the debt they have put the state is alarming and very frightening”.
Igbinedion reeled out some of the achievements of his administration in Edo, saying he was able to offset backlog of 18 months salaries, paid pensioners and salaries up to date.
He said he left government without owing any debt unlike the Oshiomhole administration, which according to him, is indebted to the tune of over $ 200 million.
The former governor stated: “I never stole Edo State money. I never mismanaged Edo State money. I was never charged for money laundering locally or internationally.
“Did we have the money to be stolen? We were receiving one of the lowest allocations in the federation.
“I can say categorically that my administration was one of the best and I impacted positively on the lives of our people”.
