The Edo State Joint Transition Committee yesterday debunked an allegation by members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Transition Committee that it denied them access to necessary documents to do their job.
The government said the APC Transition Committee led by Dr. Pius Odubu has not shown readiness to ensure a smooth and peaceful transition following their blatant refusal to attend committee meetings.
The joint transition committee set up by the outgoing Governor Godwin Obaseki’s administration and Governor-Elect Monday Okpebholo fell out on Tuesday.
The 24-member APC committee, led by a former deputy governor of the state, Pius Odubu, boycotted Tuesday’s meeting, due to the government’s purported failure to provide specific documents for review beforehand.
According to Patrick Ikhariale, the APC transition committee secretary, “The truth remains that we have had a series of communications, both oral and written… No meeting could have been proposed for today because, in our letters to them, we have insisted that anything we want to do, they must send us advance copies of whatever we want to do 24 hours before the meeting.”
Reacting yesterday, Edo State Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare, who is also a member of the state government Transition Committee, said the government provided the documentation in digital form but that the APC committee insisted on hardcopy documents, which it has also provided to them.
Speaking shortly after a meeting of the Edo State Joint Transition Committee, Nehikhare accused the APC Transition committee members of thwarting the process for the smooth transition of power in the state.
He said, “The Edo State Government Transition Committee members will continue to come for meetings until October 30th to provide information the APC transition committee requires or wants as long as it is within the transition committee mandate.”
He noted that boycotting meetings as committee members is not a problem but demanding hardcopy documents meant for only the governor elect, Monday Okpebholo and the Chief Executive of the State, Governor Godwin Obaseki is impossible.
He accused the APC Transition committee of wanting to play the role of the governor-elect by making demands for documents that are not within the purview of the transition committee mandate.
Nehikhare said the APC transition committee had from the onset of her inauguration shown disdain to work with the state government committee members.
He said their several absences from meetings with the state government transition committee since is a clear confirmation that the APC Transition Committee members are not ready for a smooth transition of power to the incoming government.
“You will recall that before the Edo State Joint Transition Committee began, we had to physically harass the APC to send to us the list of their members. It took them a few days to respond to that. Edo State PDP government did all that because it is a civilised thing to do because when a government is leaving power, it hand over the reigns of government in a peaceful and orderly manner.
“We noticed that only the Edo State Government committee members are always present for the meetings. We only want the incoming government to have an idea of what we have done and achieved and the challenges we faced while in government.
“We met here last Friday and listed the timetable of how the Transition Committee was going to meet. We do not want the impression that the Edo state government has something to hide. But on the contrary, the APC Transition Committee is the ones crying wolf.
“We have been having these problems because our brothers from the other side most likely not prepared for what they have seen in our documentation. On the table is some of our reports of our thematic pillars, which were originally put in place through our normal mode of working digitally, but our brothers said that was too complicated for them and wanted hardcopy, which we have also done,” Nehikhare said.
It would be recalled that the Edo State Joint Transition Committee speaking through the secretary of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Transition Committee, Patrick Ikhariale, had said it has adjourned sine die following the alleged inability of officials of the outgoing government to provide the required documents germane to the assignment.
Ikhariale said both parties had agreed to meet when the required information or documents were given to them.