Different reactions have greeted the inability of the Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo to correctly state the actual figures of the budget he presented to the State House of Assembly.
During the presentation of the 2025 Appropriation Bill Estimate to the lawmakers on Tuesday, the governor struggled to make meaning out of the actual amount his administration is presenting for the parliament’s assent.
A video of the governor’s budget presentation which shows his repeated attempts to correctly state the budget’s total amount went viral on social media as critics knocked him for the error.
Okpebholo appeared flustered and confused in the video, saying, “The Edo State 2025 Appropriation Bill of 6 billion… 650… 605 billion… 76 thou… 76 million…”
His other attempts to repeat the pronunciation of the figures failed as the governor gave up, saying the figures confused him.
“Let me take it again. 506 billion… 605 billion… sorry… 776 billion… sorry, it’s confusing me.”
What critics have described as an embarrassment for the governor has topped discussions on social media as others questioned Okpebholo’s intellectual ability to make a public speech without blunders.
In the midst of the raging condemnation, the ruling party, All Progressives Congress in Edo State, has come to the governor’s defence, saying the public backlash was unnecessary.
The party chairman, Jarrett Tenebe, argued that the criticism was unfounded as the governor’s slip-up was a natural human error.
Tenebe said the governor only committed a mistake, adding that it is a “normal thing” that people commit.
He claimed that the incident reflected Okpebholo’s integrity, contrasting him with past leaders in the state.
According to him, the gaffe was a way of knowing that the governor is original and innocent and that Okpebholo’s unfamiliarity with figures is a sign that he is not a thief.
The APC chairman insisted that critics focus on the governor’s performance rather than his error during the presentation.
The governor presented the proposed budget estimated at N605 billion, which reflected a 25 per cent increase from the 2024 budget.
The Appropriation Bill is titled “Budget of Renewed Hope for a Rising Edo.”
