The transition committee of the All Progressives Congress, or APC, announced on Sunday that it had not invited Godwin Obaseki, the departing governor of Edo State, to the inauguration of Senator Monday Okpebholo as the state’s new governor because the former had intended to sabotage the event.
According to reports, APC nominee Senator Monday Okpebholo was elected governor-elect to succeed outgoing Governor Obaseki, whose two terms as governor would expire on November 12, 2024.
In the governorship election held on September 21, 2024, Okpebholo defeated 15 candidates from various political parties, including his closest competitor, Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
In a statement titled “Obaseki and his lamentations,” which was made available to reporters in Benin City, Prince Kassim Afegbua, a member of the APC transition committee, stated that the outgoing governor was busy setting up landmines to prevent a smooth transfer of power, instead of gathering to plan the inauguration event as is done in other countries.
Additionally, Afegbua refuted Governor Obaseki’s claim that the governor-elect had taken out loans of between N2 billion and N5 billion from the nearly N27 billion his government had set aside to pay for projects and inauguration-related responsibilities.
As the state’s governor, Governor Obaseki was not invited to the inauguration of the 10-member caretaker committee of the PDP chapter in the state, according to recollections from last Friday.
He claims that they will try to spend as much money as they can to mislead people over this holiday season. It will be difficult for them to alter their perspective.
“We have almost N27 billion to pay for projects and obligations, but they have started blowing it, and they have gone to borrow money for the inauguration which is going to cost them N2 to N5 billion. That is the money they will first take from the treasury.
“They are doing an inauguration and the governor is not even invited. It is like they are starting a brand new government and a brand new State”, he said.
The APC transition committee responded by calling Governor Obaseki’s comments self-incriminating and incredibly ludicrous.
“Suddenly, Godwin Obaseki realizes the ephemerality of power and now resorts to lamentations about an ongoing inauguration without extending an invitation to him. We found this to be generously laughable and self-indicting.
“In other climes, an outgoing governor or president organizes the inauguration of the incoming, but for the painful loss of the PDP at the election, Governor Obaseki and his co-travelers are doing everything possible to frustrate the inauguration of the incoming Governor.
“Rather than sit down to plan the inauguration event as it is done in other climes, Governor Obaseki is busy planting landmines on the path to smooth transfer of power.
“From the transition committee to the inauguration committee, despite all the cooperation we have extended to them, what we have received in return is frustration and a deliberate plot to overburden the new administration with all manner of misplaced government decisions.
“We frown at these dubious plots which are clear negations of the standard procedures of power transfer the world over.
“Our inauguration team met with the Secretary to the State Government, who later handed our team over to another Permanent Secretary.
“The said Permanent Secretary had nothing on her table. She asked that our team should present an inauguration budget, and we declined because we wouldn’t want them to accuse us of spending bogus funds for the inauguration”, he added.
Afegbua stated that the governor-elect assumed responsibility for financing the inauguration from his own funds after the committee informed him that the state government had requested an inauguration budget and that they had refused.
“He has also cut down on the activities to make the entire ceremony a bit moderate. He doesn’t believe in an ostentatious display of resources when a lot of Edo people have been impoverished by Governor Obaseki. He’s of the view that the inauguration shouldn’t be an elaborate event.
“We have not borrowed a kobo from anywhere. We are not Governor Obaseki and his profligate self. We are conscious of our responsibilities to make life better for the average Edo person”, he stated.
However, Afegbua expressed concern that government officials are allegedly responsible for the theft of the majority of government vehicles.
Additionally, he said that the Edo State Government House had just one operational car.
“Why should we borrow money because of the inauguration? Do you know as we speak that most government vehicles have been carted away by government officials?
“There is only one functional vehicle in Edo state Government House. Every vehicle has been carted away. Is that a government that is interested in inauguration? he queried.
