By Ighomuaye Lucky. O
The All Progressives Congress Transition Committee, headed by former deputy governor of Edo State, Dr. Pius Odubu has accused the outgoing Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration of Godwin Obaseki of allegedly starving them of necessary documents that would facilitate smooth transition to the Governor-elect, Senator Monday Okpebholo.
In a statement entitled:”Edo Transition Committee: Putting The Records Straight”, signed by Patrick Ikhariale, secretary to the APC Transition Committee and made available to Journalists in Benin, said the PDP has refused to furnish them with the requested documents to carry on with their responsibility.
Barr. Ikhariale, while x-raying all that have happened thus far since the inauguration of the committee, said the PDP had earlier accused them (APC) of asking for Sitting Allowances for them to do their job and worse still, they were also accused of not being conversant with the modern day technology of running the day-to-day activities of government.
He said those accusations were totally false as they never demanded for Sitting Allowances neither are they bereaved of the ideas of the day-to-day running of government with the modern day technology adding that, what they demanded for were documents to hasten the process of the transition of power to the new government.
According to him “The outgoing PDP administration of Governor Godwin Obaseki in Edo state has not presented the necessary documents that will enable a smooth transition process, a situation that has hindered the work of the APC Transition Committee.
“In the light of this, the APC Transition Committee led by His Excellency, Dr. Pius Odubu as Chairman, hereby wishes to clarify some of the false claims and untruths put in the public domain by officials of the state government, overtly or covertly.
“It is on record that the inaugural meeting of the APC Transition Committee with the outgoing government’s team held on Friday, 18th October 2024 at the JOOPSA Hall, GRA, Benin City.
“Despite the very cordial atmosphere of mutuality and robust engagement that characterize the inaugural meeting, information from Government Team tried to scandalise the APC Transition Committee, with outlandish claims that we were asking for Sitting Allowances and that our request for hard copies was because members of the APC Committee were not tech-savvy.
“We find these false claims vexatious, underwhelming, insulting, barbaric, and completely misleading. Nothing of such was discussed or raised during and after our plenary.
“At the meeting, the APC Transition Committee stated unequivocally that documents to be submitted should be in soft and hard copies for ease of reference.
“This position was agreed upon by both teams and the government Team gave assurances that those documents would be submitted to the APC Transition Committee before the following meeting scheduled for Monday, 21st October 2024.
“The APC Transition Committee wrote officially, on the 18th of October to the Government Team detailing what to provide. Despite assurances from the Government Team, the two sets of documents sent so far are scanty and vague in respect of the expected details covering the scope of the information sought.
“For the avoidance of doubt and clarity of purpose, the letter covers the items stated below:
a) All Assets and Liabilities (headline)
b) All Edo state assets located outside the state.
c) Detailed report of all Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) and Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) report 2020 till date.
d) Detail report of the Derivation Fund to the state 2020 till date.
e) All maturing legal obligations 2020 till date. These include all contracts, pending or ongoing.
f) Total indebtedness (local and foreign) 2020 till date. Including bonds and treasury bills.
g) All approved contracts by the state government from 2020 till date.
h) Size, number and structure of all MDAs including Human Resource records/data on public/civil servants and their roles. These should also include achievements and gaps if any till date.
i) All annual financial Audit reports published and unpublished.
j) A report of the 2024 appropriation and performance till date including the revised budget.
“This should also include the current Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF)
k) All Public Private Partnerships (PPP) arrangements and Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs)
l) All state backed initiatives.
m) All fiscal treasury instruments such as treasury bills
n) All assets sold by the state between 2020 till date.
o) Bank balances across all financial institutions.
p) All programs being managed by non state actors.
q) Total monthly personnel cost (recurrent et al)
r) All federal refunds.
s) Existing partnerships with development partners. (credit, grants and aids/Technical Assistance)
t) Existing arrangements with any federal agency.
u) All laws passed or amended between 2020 till date.
v) Payroll structure /current wage bill including remuneration of consultants.
w) A report of the current technology deployed by the state and nature of partnership.
Any other relevant information that will be useful to the incoming administration”.
Ikhariale further said that they wish to put on record that a Status Report is expected to cover all headings and sub-headings in the governance process especially the details of the financial commitments on the various projects, programmes and responsibilities of the government.
He said the incoming government, the people of Edo State, and taxpayers deserve to know the status of affairs adding that they have not constituted themselves into a probe panel.
He said request for information and documents should not be seen as fishing for trouble or asking for too much as this in conformity with international best practices.
He however said that they wish to state without any fear of contradiction that the Government Team seems to be evasive and trying strenuously to shift the focus from the essence of the transition.
He said that they Committee is of the considered opinion that in line with the seamless Transition initiative, the government should be open and transparent enough to avail them the documents required to make their assignment easier without raising airs about their good intention.
The Secretary of the Committee said that the idea of trying to blackmail the APC Transition Committee is in bad taste and most unfortunate as the Committee is peopled by professionals and persons of high repute under the leadership of former Edo State Deputy Governor, Dr. Pius Odubu.
He added that the job must be done, and the earlier the Government Team does the needful towards a seamless transition, the better it will be for all concerned.
He expressed joy that despite the setbacks and deliberate slow response from the Government Team, the APC Transition Committee has been working assiduously to complete her assignment in line with its terms of reference.
He added that they will not bow to blackmail, insults, ridicule, name-calling, and deliberate ploy to mislead the public.
He further use the opportunity to call on all well-meaning members of the Public to disregard the tissues of lies and misinformation by the outgoing Government of the state.
Reacting to the allegations, the state Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr Chris Nehikhare said, if there is any issues to be dealt with, it should be brought to the table for deliberations.
