Okpebholo denies seeking $45m loan from China

Edo State governor-elect, Senator Monday Okpebholo, has denied reports claiming he aims to acquire a $45 million loan from a Chinese agency for state projects.

The media aide to the Governor-elect, Godspower Inegbe, denounced this in a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday.

The reports can claimed the loan was meant to finance the construction of three flyovers in Benin City.

The reports emerged after Okpebholo paid a visit to the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Yu Dunhai, recently.

According to the statement, the Governor-elect is “focused on addressing the numerous debts accumulated by the outgoing administration without any visible development to show for it.”

The statement went on to ask members of the general public to disregard the fake reports.

“We wish to alert the public to the misleading publication alleging that Senator Monday Okpebholo, the winner of the November 21 governorship election, is negotiating a $45.21 million loan with a Chinese agency to construct three flyovers in Benin City.

“We are compelled to set the record straight. The governor-elect, Senator Monday Okpebholo, was photographed at the office of the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria in Abuja, where he had been invited.

“Contrary to claims in the publication, he was not there to sign any Memorandum of Understanding with the China Exim Bank for a loan. Rather, he is dedicated to finding ways to address the multiple loans amassed by the outgoing administration without corresponding development,” the statement read.

In his reaction, the Edo Commissioner for Information, Chris Nehikhare, assured that these rumours did not emanate from the office of the present Governor, Godwin Obaseki.

“It is not true. We have nothing to say about that. We don’t even know where the original statement they are reacting to came from. All we know is that the new government is coming in on November 12,” Nehikhare said.