The Edo State Governorship Campaign Council of the All Progressives Congress and its Peoples Democratic Party counterpart are engaged in a war of words over who deserves credit for the construction/ownership of the Edo Modular Refinery in Ologbo.

The Chairman of the APC Media Campaign Council, John Mayaki, on Sunday warned the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led PDP administration against laying claim to the project, which he said it contributed little or nothing to.

He said it was out of place for the Obaseki administration to lay claim to the Edo Refinery and Petrochemical Company, owned by AIPCC Energy Limited, a joint venture between AFCOM and Peiyang Chemical Equipment Company of China and built at the cost of $10.2m.

Mayaki said, “The Federal Government supported the project by granting duty waivers on refinery equipment and components. The PCC, equally, is a partner to the EPC.

“If the Federal Government that offered tangible support, which if factored in cost, would amount to millions of dollars, is not claiming credit for the project, why is the Obaseki administration parading the premises of the refinery, claiming to have achieved a landmark project?”

He said the Obaseki administration had nothing to show for its four years in office hence it was looking for projects to claim in order to deceive and mislead the electorate.

Responding, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, Crusoe Osagie, said, “After last week’s visit of a Federal Government delegation to the Edo Modular Refinery in Ologbo, the APC is now clearly confused as their campaign seems to have been deflated by the stellar performance of Governor Obaseki and the near total acceptance that Obaseki enjoys from the Edo people.

“Truth will continue to dwarf and ultimately blot out falsehood and propaganda as the Ologbo visit by the Federal Government delegation has just done to the APC’s efforts at misinforming the public.

“Just last week, the Presidency sent emissaries to Ologbo, Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area of Edo State, to inspect the Edo refinery project and the Federal Government officials were not only satisfied with what they saw, but showered encomium on Obaseki for the landmark achievement.”