Proposed Sale Of Edo House: Gov Oshiomhole Explains Government’s Position

Amidst reactions by the opposition party to the proposed sale of Edo House, Lagos by the State Government, the Governor Comrade Adams Oshiomhle during a media chat with top media Executives in his office, Wednesday, explained Government’s position on the issue.
Here is the excerpts:
First, let me use the opportunity of this meeting to brief you on a matter that I thought is actually self explainatory but considering the level of mischief in our environment; there are things you take for granted thinking that everybody understand, but there are people who either out of mischief or cheer ignorance seem to create confusion in the minds of the public.
We reviewed like we have done in every other aspect of our state; that we look at whenever we have asset, whether those assets are performing and the need to maintain the one that are performing and what we can do to make sure that all our investments, whether they are where we can put them back to work. Where we can’t, we sell them off so that private people can better utilize them.
Around the world, I think the days are gone when government claim to be able to control the commanding height of the economies of states or nations and everyone now agrees that government is better at providing infrastructures, providing the enabling environment for private people to go in.
Obviously, Edo State Government doesn’t have the competence to indulge or manage her estate. And from what we can see, where governments have such properties, it hardly ever makes money from it. It is the agents who are connected, who get appointed either as managing or as tenant or whatever end up benefiting from the asset. Now, having reviewed the whole situation, we ask ourselves whether or not for example we need the Edo Liaison Office in Lagos.
That office was built at a time when Lagos was still the capital of Nigeria and I believe every State Government, every regional government had a Liaison Office in Lagos. Some also use part of the Liaison Office as hostel, hotel or guest house where people or indigenes from the state are able to reside when they are posted to Lagos, they had a ready accommodation to stay. Edo House happen to be in a very prime area in Lagos. When the capital of Nigeria was relocated to Abuja, the status of Lagos changed. Lagos is still a very important city; but is now a commercial and industrial heartbeat of Nigeria. Is no longer the political headquarters. If you own a property in Lagos, you know that like every responsible government, Lagos State Government will expect that you pay rent. Every responsible government would change on property or the Land used, like we are trying to do in Edo State.
Now, since my assumption of office here, I have gone to Lagos with several of my commissioners at one time or the other. I have also gone there to assess the state of affairs in our Lagos Office and we were shocked to find the state of disrepair. The building has been abandoned for long with their lease with private individuals who use part of it as hotel. They don’t remit the money to government, you try to make them remit the money, they go to court. We are moving through one court to the other spending money on lawyers and so on.
Meanwhile, the property is there wasting away. I have to ask myself whether it makes economic sense or whether it will be in the interest of the good people of Edo State to continue to maintain that property and take Edo tax payers money to pay ground rent and other charges.
Just recently, we had a bill of about N60 million (Sixty Million Naira) from Lagos State Government for us to settle various charges associated with ownership of our property of that value in Lagos.
Now, the question that I have to ask myself is. Does it make sense for one to make money from Edo State to go and service our property in Lagos? If so, what do we get in return? Since being a Governor, I have never stay in the guest house in Edo Liaison Office in Lagos.
My predecessors never stay, there. Perhaps, the last time anybody stay there would be many, many years ago when one or two military Sole Administrator probably had cause to stay there. If I go to Lagos, I stay in a hotel and Edo State Government paid for that hotel.
So, what now is the value of retaining the property. It’s not yielding income for Edo State and is attracting charges.
We deliberated on this matter at the state executive council and we felt that the primary purpose or reason for acquiring that property in the first instance is no longer valid by reason of the fact that the capital has relocated to Abuja.
Consequently, we have built Edo House Office where we have staff and officials who liaise with Federal Agencies also handle protocol issues, when any of us is going to Lagos or anybody who have any enquiring to make in respect with what Edo State is doing.
So, we now have a building in Abuja, we also have a land we are going to develop, but the building in Lagos is therefore no longer relevant. We have decided to put it on sale. But when I got to know what the PDP government did before, we decided that the process was to be transparent and there is only one way to make the process transparent; get the necessary agents, advertise the fact that we want to sell the house. Rather than doing selective bidding, we opted for open advert so that whoever have the money to buy can buy. Our intention is; when we sell a property, whatever is realized can be use to build a property in Benin.
We have two outstanding viable projects if God willing and we saw in the time being available, and I intend to accomplish before the end of my tenure all the projects in Benin City. The most central one in my heart is building a Five Star Hotel with a Conference Centre and banquet facilities and seminar home in strategic place in Benin City because giving our location, gathering to the West, the East, North and to the South/South. Thirty minutes ride to Benin, 35 mins to Abuja, Benin City is simply the heart of the centre of Nigeria.
We must not forget that we are called the heart beat of Nigeria. The major weakness which we have why we can’t host major big events is the absence of banquet facilities or conference facilities among others.
So, I am convinced that with a 5 STAR HOTEL completed with such facilities, we can take advantage of our location and the fact that we have very good air link both to the industrial capital of Lagos and the political capital of Abuja and we enjoy three hours (3HRS) drive from Port-Harcourt and we are part of the oil producing states of the Niger/Delta and for me, it is about thinking of the future.
Now, having decided to put Edo House in an Open Market, whatever money we realized from it, makes more sense for Edo people to divest from Lagos and use the money and bring the investment down to Edo State and use it in terms of preference, or as a priority to build a 5 Star Hotel. Even if the money is not enough, it can be used to start the construction and find other resources to complete it or partner with the private sector. Incidentally, during my last visit to Washington, I had a discussion with the American Ambassador, Nelson Bar to fund the construction of a hotel in partnership and if that comes to past, we expect to raise and attract as far as $150 million (One Hundred and Fifty Million Dollars). If we get that, we can have 5 star marior hotel that will forever change and make a bold statement about our tourist potential as a state.
Therefore, we will rather relocate the house in Lagos to Benin. But if we can’t physically move it to Benin, we will put it in the market, bring the proceed to develop the city. My mandate is not to develop Lagos, my mandate is to develop Edo State and therefore, I have no apology for those who felt that barely for political reason, we keep our landed asset in Lagos to be wasting away. The responsibility of a Governor is to think not just about today but about the future.
Secondly, we have designs that are completed to build a Benin City Business District (B.C.B.D) and some of you may remember the Agidigbe House and the Bureau de-Exchange house around the King’s Square, the design is ready to have a very beautiful edifice around that King’s Square that would cover the Agidigbe and the Bureau de-exchange where the Comrade Buses are presently using as park. The Comrade buses have to be on the road moving. Now we want to build the Benin City Business District (B.C.B.D) and it will complete the statement we want to make around the King’s Square because you will recall at the beginning when they said we were just planting flowers but now they should know that we are not just planting flowers, we are constructing and we are building and I also said if you recall in our previous interaction that our vision is clear. By the time we are through, substantial part of our urban renewal programme in Benin City must have been completed.
When you stand at the King’s Square at night, it will be a beautiful site to behold. This is because you have the Sokponba Road already lighted, well built. Also, we have the Akpakpava Road which is already done.
We are working on Forestry Road and Mission Road. We have already completed the job on Oba Market Road, Airport Road has been completed and when all of these are lighted up and you are at the heart of Benin City, you could see a Modest City. Everything I have said we are working on, some have already been completed. I think the only two left now are the mission and Forestry Roads in which the only difficult part which is the construction of the side covet is almost completed. Once these are completed, the heart of Benin City will be such that every Edo person will be proud of and we will now find resources to build the Benin City Business District where you will have all kinds of facilities, office space, banks, hall; the design even have a space for cinema. Then, we have a city centre that truly works. So, for me, that is my challenge and if selling Lagos out will give us resources to transform Benin City, I will do so. The other day, I saw on the Television an advert where they claim that we said we are not bound to sell to the highest bidder and that means that we will not give in to them. There are standard format for advertising sale of property just like you have standard format for advertising contract. In the case of contract you might receive all files in courts that say we are not bound to award it to the highest bidder. But the fact that we advertised shown that we are more transparent, honest and more committed because the Previous P.D.P Government sold all kinds of property in the G.R.A.
Today, we don’t have any Guest House, you tell me, you have been in this state before me, tell me if any of those property were advertised. One of the PDP senators acquired a Land here that he paid less than a million Naira on a G.R.A Land. That case is not yet closed, we are still looking at it with a view to recovering it or sell it on its market value, if he can afford it, good. If he can’t afford it, it will be confisticated and put into public use. So they sold them underground. We advertised and they are making noise. Now if we as the bid revealed that we are not bound to sell to the highest bidder, then I am the Chief bidder. It is a standard format but we would rather want to be challenged if any of them comes out to buy and I’m believing the fact that they should have the money because they owned the cow and the head, let them bid. In any case, it should be shown that you are a serious bidder. You will be expected to attach 10% to the value of your bid to be sure that you are not just a busy-body bidder so that those who bid are people who are truly interested in buying the property.
However, I believe Edo people know better. We will try the best we can to protect the best interests of Edo State. Nobody in this government is entitled even to bid on that property not to talk of acquiring it. None of us is interested. So I ask you to monitor the process as transparently as you can, devout every time to carry out investigation. When we begin to receive biding. You find out how much it is sold and investigate who bought it.
I am sure you will have all the skills to discover what is on the paper and what is under the paper if there is anything under the paper. We are not being distracted, we are proceeding with the sales and we will use the money realized to develop this great city of Benin.