By DADA AYOKHAI
Prince Clem Agba, the minister of state for Budget and National Planning, is in the eyes of the storm and also swimming against the tide of public opinion on his performance in office
Heavy criticisms have trailed his recent commissioning of some projects in Edo State. The projects have been described as part of what President Buhari intends to bequeath as he prepares to leave office in less than a month
But the trouble for Prince Agba stems mainly from the accusations of imbalance in the distribution of the President Muhammad Buhari legacy projects in the state.
In recent days, Prince Agba embarked on an extensive tour of duty that took him across some communities in the Edo North district where he commissioned some of the completed legacy projects as well as paid on-the-spot assessment to the ongoing ones to have a feel of the extent of the work so far done in meeting the target date for their completion
Hoping, however, to receive accolades for his efforts, Prince Agba is getting the flak from even the most unexpected places
According to the minister there are about sixty of these Buhari legacy projects littering the state.
In normal times, the project commissioning ought to have shored up the waning image of President Buhari and that of the minister, Prince Agba but that is not the case as the table has turned against him and the minister has found to his chagrin that critics now question his sincerity and loyalty even to the Edo North where he comes from.
Prince Agba hails from the Uzanu community in the Etsako East local government area.
Among the projects, the embattled Prince Agba commissioned during his brisk tour of duty were the 1.5km Mogbe-Edegbe road, the 4.5km Agenebode- Unedege road, and the 2.5km Ekiwosor-Ivikhue road. He was also on hand to commission the 500kva transformers, solar street lights, and the remodeled open market stalls in Agenebode, Etsako Central
Similarly, he visited the ongoing project sites to ascertain the pace of work and to also remind the contractors of the need to deliver quality work on time. These include the 31km Uzanu-Ajaokuta road, the 21.5km Uzanu-Okpekpe road, the 6km Ogeneda-Ugochi road, and the 10km Egbigere-Ate-Somorika road
The two other senatorial districts of Edo South and Edo Central respectively have complained of no tangible projects whatsoever to show in the district.
The critics also pointed their accusing fingers at how the minister sidelined other parts of the Edo North in the distribution of the projects, saying a greater percentage are domiciled in his Uzanu domain
According to most of the respondents in Etsako, Owan, and Akoko Edo, the three legs making up the Edo North district, the actions of the minister were sinister and also amounted to fraud because what would have been the fate of the district if others before him had acted in a similar manner.
For the critics of Prince Agba, if it is true that he has the ears of Mister President as his admirers have hypothesized, his first task should have been to conclude the dualization of the ever-busy Auchi-Benin highway to lessen the suffering of motorists who daily ply that route and have become easy preys for rioting kidnappers who have taken full control of the axis and go ahead to abduct their victims like where a farmer is plucking ripe oranges off the tree
In all, the critics maintain that Prince Agba Uzanu community where he chose to domicile these projects lacks the critical mass to define political outcomes in Etsako East,
