One of the leading governorship aspirants under the banner of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in the September 21, 2024 governorship election, Mr Dennis Idahosa, has said that if elected governor, his administration would review the several loans the state incurred under the administration of the incumbent Governor Godwin Obaseki.
This was just as he promised that his administration would grant full autonomy to local government areas for grassroots development.
Idahosa made the promises on Monday evening when he met members of the Correspondents Chapel, Edo State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), where he said he would replicate his developmental strides as the member representing Ovia Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives in Edo State as governor.
According to him, “Obaseki’s promises to the people have not been fulfilled and therefore his candidate and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) should be voted out of office.
“Edo state currently is the third most indebted state in Nigeria. When there is too much debt, most of the allocations accruing to the state will be used to service them and we cannot sustain that. So, under my watch as governor, we are going to review most of these loans because some of them were not properly evaluated, I will ensure that this is done.
“With what I have done in Ovia Federal constituency, I know that if APC gives me the ticket, with your support and the good people of Edo State, I will win and turn Edo around.
“One of the things I will do is to ensure that there is local government autonomy. I will ensure that monies appropriated for them get to them so that they can develop their localities against what we currently have where local government areas are given stipends and not enough for to work but under my watch, that will not continue.” He reiterated.
On women, Idahosa said “I understand very well that women are the bedrock of every home and if we give them opportunities, they will maximize it which will help build our economy. The government will be a guarantor to all the financial institutions in Edo to give women soft loans.
“For the youth, I will leverage on foreign investors to create jobs for our young people, I will woo foreign investors to come here and invest and then create real jobs for our people,” he assured.