Edo Joint Transition Committee in Logjam as Odubu-led APC Team Shuns Meeting Over Non-release of Requested Documents

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The Edo State Joint Transition Committee set up by the outgoing administration of Governor Godwin Obaseki has run into a storm with the shunning of a scheduled meeting on Tuesday by the Pius-Odubu-led All Progressives Congress (APC) transition committee.

The impasse was due to disagreements over documents requested by the incoming government of Senator Monday Okpebholo, which the government was not disposed to release, insisting that the information would be available in the governor’s handover note to his successor.

Recall that the joint committee held its inaugural meeting Friday October 18 during which Odubu, former deputy governor and chairman of the APC transition committee, appealed for proper briefing, cautioning against any attempt to hide data and necessary information. He had also demanded speedy provision of requisite documents to enhance smooth transition as it was time-bound.

Responding, the Secretary to the State Government, (SSG) and chairman of the outgoing administration’s transition committee, Joseph Eboigbe, had however assured that members of the committee from the government side would always be available for clarifications in or out of government.

Both parties, howbeit, committed themselves to a seamless transition of power from the incumbent to the incoming administration.

Things however went awry on Tuesday following the absence of the Odubu-led committee from the meeting on the complaint that certain documents demanded were either not provided, or not made available 24 hours ahead of sitting as requested.

At the maiden meeting last week, the SSG had during a power-point presentation, praised Obaseki for keeping clean financial records and promised to make available hard copy of all records to the opposition party.

A crack in the joint committee became noticeable Tuesday morning when only few Secretariat staff were sighted while the APC members were conspicuously absent.

When contacted for clarification, secretary to the APC Transition Committee, Patrick Ikhariale, said they had requested the government to avail them advance copies of documents 24 hours before any meeting, but that the specific documents demanded were not provided.

The former federal lawmaker said, ” The truth remains that we have had series of communications, both oral and written. Some of them are well documented. No meeting could have been proposed for today because in our letters to them, we had insisted that anything we wanted to do, they must send to us advance copies 24 hours before the meeting.

“Be that as it may, we made requisitions yesterday that all the documents they have supplied so far do not meet our expectations because we asked certain specific questions or required certain documents that are to give us enough understanding of certain things.

“At the end of the day, it was like they were going to change their approach because it is obvious that whatever they brought to us would have been written well ahead of the transition committee. And whatever we are asking for is in line with best standard practice globally. We’re not asking for anything new; no rocket science about it. It is a question of asking questions in some cases relating to some monetary issues, expenditure, what’s left here, what has been done, maybe grants, NGOs. There are so many others. We have 23 areas of interest which we forwarded.

“What has been supplied to us so far, to the best of our knowledge and what we can readily see here is showcasing the achievements of the Obaseki regime for the number of years that they have stayed in government. That’s not the focus of the request we made. There’s no doubt that the submission they have made so far falls short of what we expected. We’re forwarding a letter to them giving them time that anytime they’re able to forward the expected documents, we will have the joint meeting and interaction”.

But reacting to the APC’s complaints, the commissioner for communication and orientation, Chris Osa Nehikhare, said the APC Committee was making inquiries that were outside their mandate of transiting to them what the outgoing government had done, and that some of their inquiries would be contained in the handover notes of Governor Godwin Obaseki to the governor-elect, Senator Monday Okpebholo.

Nehikhare said “We are a transition committee and not an inquisitive committee that they are trying to make themselves look like. The global practice is to present what we have done, where we are, and what has not been done.

“They claim we are only showcasing what we have done, but these are the same people that said Obaseki did not do anything. We are supposed to transit all that we have done and yet to do to them, and some of the other details will be in the handover notes of the governor.

“During our first joint meeting, we did announce how we will do the presentations to them and some other questions they are asking are all embedded in these presentations.”