Why Okpebholo paid APC youth leader N914 million for demolished hotel

Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, has approved payment of N914 million to the state Youth Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Tony Adun, popularly known as Tony Kabaka, as compensation for his demolished hotel.

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The payment of the N914 million compensation was part of the many approvals made by Governor Okpebholo at Friday’s Executive Council (EXCO) meeting.

The demolition

Godwin Obaseki, the immediate past governor of Edo, had ordered the demolition of Mr Adun’s hotel for allegedly obstructing the right of way in 2020.

Mr Obaseki’s administration had claimed that the T. Latifa Hotel was demolished for violating building laws. The administration argued that the building sat across a road on the Ugbor-Amagba axis of the Oredo Local Government Area of the state.

However, the Edo State High Court, and later the Court of Appeal, which ruled in Mr Adun’s favour, ordered the Edo State Government to either rebuild the hotel or pay N914 million in compensation.

Mr Obaseki’s administration did not comply with the court rulings.

Why Okpebholo compensated Adun’s

Speaking after the Exco meeting, the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Paul Ohonbamu, said the decision was in line with a court judgement in favour of the APC youth leader.

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“As a governor who believes that decisions of the court are to be obeyed, today, EXCO has approved the sum the court asked to be paid.

“The beneficiary will know that we have a governor who is thoughtful, law-abiding, and believes that justice must be rooted in confidence,” he said

Other approvals

Mr Ohonbamu said the EXCO approved the purchase and supply of 50 brand new Toyota Hiace buses (2024 model) to complement the 100 units earlier procured for the state-owned transportation company, New Edo Line.

He said the EXCO also approved the purchase of 50 compressed natural gas buses for the Edo City Transport Service.

According to Mr Ohonbamu, other approvals included the purchase of 111 motorbikes for security agencies and the procurement of five bulldozers and one lowbed truck for the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.

On road construction, the commissioner said that the Exco approved the construction and rehabilitation of roads in oil and gas producing areas of Orhionmwon, Ovia North-East, and Ikpoba-Okha local government areas, under the purview of the Edo State Oil and Gas Producing Areas Development Commission.

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The approved road projects included construction of Eromo Road, Ikpoba-Okha LGA; construction of Presidential Road, Ikpoba-Okha LGA; rehabilitation of Ugo Market Road, Orhionmwon LGA, and construction of Odion Umoru Road, Ikpoba-Okha LGA.

“Don’t forget that all these processes are sequential. Procurement processes were met in line with the Edo State Public Procurement Law of 2020, and the State Tender Board has also done its own.

“Today, an additional 50 buses have been approved. All the necessary procurement processes were met in line with the Edo State Public Procurement Law.”