Special Adviser to the Edo State Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, Mr. Crusoe Osagie, has berated the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Dan Orbih, for fabricating stories of an empty treasury against the state government to score cheap political points and save his ebbing political career.
In a statement, Osagie noted that the rumours of an empty treasury are products of Orbih’s imagination as they have no basis in fact.
According to him, “The chairman of the PDP in Edo State, Dan Orbih, has once again gone to town with yet another fabrication about an empty treasury in Edo State. To set the records straight, the accusation is false, misleading and ill-conceived.
“But we are familiar with Orbih and such beer-parlour gossip is his stock-in-trade. As chairman of the PDP, which is about to hold its congress, he is seeking means to be relevant amid plans to oust him from office.
“But we are happy to report to Edo people that we have maintained a healthy balance sheet, with perhaps the most transparent and prudent government in the country.
“The Debt Management Office (DMO) attested to this during the last Alaghodaro Summit, during which the state was given a healthy rating.”
Osagie stressed that the state government also runs one of the most transparent budgeting process in the country and has a pact with the people to ensure an open government, which makes it possible for citizens to assess by themselves the financial standing of the state.
“Annual reports are published yearly. We are also signatories to a number of conventions on open governance and having maintained an open book for citizens who intend to follow the money trail in government. So, we wonder from where Orbih got his own facts from. He should be completely disregarded,” he said.
