Benin, Edo – In a statement dripping with polite sarcasm and pointed demands, the Edo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has extended a qualified olive branch to Governor Monday Okpebholo, commending his recent site visits to inherited projects while unleashing a barrage of unanswered questions that paint his administration as a hotbed of fiscal folly, cultural clumsiness, and political payback.

Signed by Publicity Secretary Dan Osa-Ogbegie, Esq., the missive – released on Wednesday – embodies the PDP's self-proclaimed role as the people's watchdog: applaud where due, but eviscerate where the emperor's new clothes reveal nothing but naked opportunism.

The backdrop to this epistolary skirmish is the governor's October 7 inspection tour of the Stella Obasanjo Hospital and the Iyaro Education Hub (formerly known as the Tayo Akpata Education Hub), facilities commissioned with fanfare by his predecessor, Godwin Obaseki, just before the 2024 elections.

Okpebholo, who had previously dismissed these as "cosmetic" relics of a rival regime, arrived with cameras rolling and promises flowing. He pegged the hospital at a mere 60% complete – a figure the PDP swiftly branded as "revisionism" or "unfamiliarity with his own records" – vowing to have it "fully functional before Christmas."

The Iyaro Hub, he admitted, needed work to become "operational and purposeful," a tacit nod to the PDP's October 1 Independence Day critique that lambasted the administration for abandoning these assets in a fit of partisan spite.

"We thank the Governor for finally discovering that governance is not an exercise in spite and vengeance," Osa-Ogbegie wrote, his tone a masterclass in damning with faint praise. The PDP hailed the visits as proof that "governance is a relay, not a vendetta," crediting their own pressure for nudging Okpebholo toward continuity.

Yet, the gratitude curdles quickly: "However, in his characteristic style, the Governor could not resist the temptation to lace his so-called inspection with darts and denigration."

The party vows to "hold him to his own promise" on the Christmas deadline, warning that "Edo people will not forget that timeline. They are taking note."

This performative pivot comes amid mounting scrutiny of Okpebholo's nine-month tenure, where bold announcements have often outpaced tangible delivery. The PDP's statement, echoing its September 28 maiden salvo under Osa-Ogbegie, reaffirms a pledge to support uplifting policies but to "speak without fear" against waste, deception, or vindictiveness.

Today, that fearlessness manifests in eight pointed interrogations, transforming the press release into a prosecutorial docket.At the top: allegations of profligate procurement, including "over 400 vehicles" snapped up in under a year, some allegedly costing "hundreds of millions of naira each."

This echoes earlier PDP barbs at a purported N4.2 billion splurge on luxury SUVs for commissioners, slammed as tone-deaf amid economic hardship and insecurity.

Then, the eyebrow-raising query on "₦100 million payoffs" totaling ₦1.4 billion to 14 assembly members-elect who, in 2019, boycotted inauguration and hunkered down in Abuja under godfather Adams Oshiomhole's wing – a payout the PDP brands as "funding impunity with public funds."

The ₦914 million "Kabaka Controversy" takes center stage, with demands for clarity on a payment to APC youth leader Tony "Kabaka" Adun, framed by the PDP as a "hush payment to political enforcers" disguised as court judgment compensation for a demolished hotel.

The state insists it honors a legitimate ruling, but the PDP smells favoritism, questioning "who authorised what and why."

Foreign jaunts fare no better. The "$250 million EuroAfrica CCI investment" – inked during a Glasgow summit – is derided as a "comedy of make-believe," with the MoU bearing only Edo signatures, no investor counterpart. "

A deal between Edo State and Edo State is not foreign investment; it is political theatre of the absurd," Osa-Ogbegie quipped, demanding the missing endorsement or a full retraction.

The trip's near-₦500 million tab? "What is the return on that investment, other than photo-ops and phantom MoUs?"

On health, the PDP revives outrage over a ₦2.5 billion donation to the federal University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), questioning its lack of appropriation and policy backing: "Was it a health-sector intervention or a political tribute dressed as generosity?"

State hospitals, they argue, crumble while federal ones feast.

Demolitions "without due process" – razing homes and hotels on cultism whispers, sans probes or court nods – are decried as "law replaced with bulldozers and impunity," a nod to the Kabaka hotel saga's lingering bitterness.

Capping the litany: the "Cultural Misgovernance" of the Iyaloja inauguration, where a non-indigene was installed as market overlord at Government House, flouting Benin traditions and irking the Oba's palace. The PDP, which earlier demanded an "explicit apology" from Okpebholo's office, reiterates: "We have not heard a public apology. We insist on one."

This ties back to the broader cultural clash, underscoring the administration's alleged deference to federal whims over local heritage.Osa-Ogbegie frames the PDP not as obstructionists but as "prevent[ing] governance from degenerating into a roadside performance."

He lists unfinished business – from the School of Health Technology to the Iyekogba–Ekenhuan Road – as tests of Okpebholo's mettle.

"Edo people are not props in a drama," he asserts, urging the governor to trade "sightseeing and press captions" for "policy, prudence... and responsibility."

As of the time of this report, Okpebholo's camp has yet to respond, though his Chief Press Secretary, Fred Itua, has previously dismissed PDP critiques as "desperate fear-mongering" and "empty noise."