Obaseki Slams Okpebholo Over False Claims on Stella Obasanjo Hospital, Accuses Him of Dodging Contractor Payments

Former Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, has berated his successor, Senator Monday Okpebholo for allegedly falsely claiming that the Stella Obasanjo Hospital was hurriedly commissioned when it has not been completed.

Obaseki stated that Okpebholo’s false comments on Stella Obasanjo Hospital was targeted at dodging payment of contractors.

Recall that Okpebholo had described the recent commissioning of the hospital in Benin City by Obaseki as a scam.

He said construction at the facility is still ongoing, and equipment yet to be procured by the last administration before it hurriedly commissioned it as a completed project.

Okpebholo pledged to immediately correct the structural defects at the Hospital in order to reposition it to serve the people better

But in a swift reaction in a statement on Thursday, Obaseki’s Media Adviser, Crusoe Osagie, said the Stella Obasanjo Hospital is completed, equipped, fully operational.

He said Okpebholo’s attempts to disparage the work done by the Obaseki’s administration are part of a clandestine plan to dodge the payment of the contractors who executed the project.

Osagie said top officials of the Okpebholo-led government are currently playing hardball with the contractors, trying to arm-twist them and demanding as much as 30 percent of the total amount owed.

Obaseki’s media aide also released photos showing a fully completed and equipped hospital.

His statement reads: “The childish, laughable, and infantile comments by the ‘governor-select’ of Edo State, Monday Okpebholo, where he fruitlessly attempted to disparage the excellent work done by the immediate past governor, Godwin Obaseki, at the Stella Obasanjo Hospital on Sapele Road, Benin City, are part of a clandestine plan to dodge the payment of the contractors who executed the project.