The Edo State Government has levelled more allegations of financial malfeasance against the immediate past administration of Governor Godwin Obaseki, on the multibillion-naira Radisson Hotel project in Benin City.
The government, speaking through the Honourable Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Prince Kassim Afegbua, has described the transaction as a predatory scheme that siphoned public wealth into private hands, orchestrated by what it termed a “ghost investor.”
The statement, issued on Saturday, 13th December 2025, pulls no punches in its assessment of the previous administration’s financial conduct. “Fibs, distortions, concoctions, contradictions, pretensions and lies in cold blood have become the pre-occupation of the beleaguered, factionalised and dithering opposition PDP in Edo state,” Afegbua declared.
He accused the Obaseki-led government of operating in a “wholesale acquisitive, draconian, dictatorial, and prebendal mode” for eight years, with the Radisson Hotel deal presented as a prime example.
The commissioner’s allegations detailed that the Obaseki administration “took N25 billion 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% equity to the state that had expended N25 billion on the project.”
This, the statement asserts, is the heart of the scandal: the near-total transfer of a state-funded asset. “Till date,” Afegbua continued, “no record of this investor ploughing money into the project to warrant his 80% equity ab initio has been seen.”
Further compounding the issue, the commissioner revealed that the “N25 billion sourced from the Stock Market is still being paid through an Irrevocable Standing Payment Order of N385 million monthly by Edo state Government.”
This detail paints a picture of the current administration servicing a substantial debt for an asset from which the state allegedly derives minimal benefit. The identity and credentials of the beneficiary investor were treated with scepticism. “Your so-called investor,” Afegbua stated, “registered a brand new company in May 2024, with no antecedents to support any prior involvement or success in the hospitality business or any other.”
He highlighted the lack of due process, noting, “They did not go through any competitive bidding to acquire a whopping 80% of that hotel pronto.”
“Hmm, what manner of financial wizardry is that?” the commissioner asked. “This is only possible in Godwin Obaseki’s school of economics and public finance. And we have elected never to enrol in such dubious college of fraud.”
The statement firmly reasserted state ownership, vowing, “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 Edo state government as a collateral entity to source N25 billion naira from the stock market, and invest the money for the benefit of your friends and cronies.”
In a wider defence of the current government’s actions, Prince Afegbua contrasted what he described as the opaque, plundering style of the past with the focused governance of Governor Monday Okpebholo. He defended the administration’s decision to shift the Government House’s power supply away from the Ossiomo Power Plant—another Obaseki-era project—as a simple matter of utility and cost-saving.
“In an era of competition, users go for what is more utility-driven to them to cut cost in public finance. If that is what angers PDP business buccaneers, well, tough sausage!. Governor Okpebholo’s mandate given to him by the Edo people is to use Edo money to build Edo State. The era of mindless plundering of our resources to build private enterprise is gone with Godwin Obaseki.”
The commissioner was equally scathing in his personal characterisation of the former governor, accusing him of fleeing accountability.
“Godwin Obaseki should return home and face the investigative panel if he has nothing to hide. Seeking refuge under the courts will not help his case,” Afegbua charged, adding that the former governor was “trying to use his fugitive status to whip up sentiments while he sits in foreign beer parlours and palmwine joints.”
The statement concluded with a firm commitment to take legal action against the former governor.
“Once the investigations are concluded, the state government will formally submit a petition to the EFCC to bring Godwin Obaseki to book. No amount of hate-mongering, propaganda and noise making will distract our Governor from his resolve to right the wrongs of the previous administration”, Afegbua confirmed.
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