From Tony Osauzo, Benin

The 25-member Transition Committee set up by the All Progressives Congress (APC) has presented its report to the Edo State Governor-elect, Senator Monday Okpebholo, advising him to institute an enquiry into the finances of the state.

The Chairman of the Committee, a former deputy governor of the state, Dr Pius Odubu, stated in his speech, “the outgoing government didn’t provide audited financial statements, published or unpublished, hence the committee is advising the government to institute an enquiry into this.”

The Committee disclosed, “The procurement agency indicted the government in its own report to the Transition Committee; hence we have advised the Governor to take a critical review,” just as it “recommended a complete review of all MOUs on the management of the Central Hospital and Stella Obasanjo Hospital.”

Additionally, the Committee said, “We recommended that the local and foreign debts must be accounted for.

“All employment carried out in the recent past should be cancelled.

“The Governor should investigate the true ownership of the Ossiomo power plant and Radisson Blu Hotel. The same with the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA). We deserve to know the state’s equity in these companies as the outgoing government went silent on these enquiries.

“We also demanded a comprehensive review of the World Bank-funded EdoBest programme, and a probe should be instituted to uncover its rather opaque operations.

“All major contracts issued by the state government under the Ministry of Roads and Bridges should be reviewed, as they appear not to have followed due process, including advance payments awarded to contractors.”

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Other recommendations include, “The ICT ecosystem should be streamlined, as there appears to be duplication of duties.

“The government couldn’t account for the number of teachers in the state; hence, we demand a proper teacher headcount.”

“The Committee, while expressing profound appreciation to the Governor-elect for deeming it worthy to carry out the assignment, especially the confidence reposed in the members, both individually and collectively, said the assignment further exposed them to the dynamics of modern-day governance and deepened their knowledge of the eight-year administration of the outgoing government.

“It is pertinent to note that Edo State has very rich opportunities and potential to become one of the top ten states in Nigeria if transparency, accountability, and probity are carefully applied in governance. We are not just proud of your victory to lead this state in the next four years; we are indeed proud to be Edo people and to be part of that process,” Odubu stated.

Receiving the report, the Governor-elect, Senator Monday Okpebholo, said, “I am going to find this information very useful,” and promised to study the report.

“On 14th October 2024, the party set up a Transition Committee comprising twenty-five members under my leadership to interface with the outgoing government for a seamless transition. The Transition Committee was given specific terms of reference drawn from a broad spectrum of issues to guide it in executing its assignment. After three weeks of rigorous assignments, meetings, interactions, engagements, and analyses of the documents presented to the Committee, we are proud to present to Your Excellency our report, based on our findings after a careful examination and analysis of the official documents received from the outgoing Government’s Transition Team.

“Your Excellency, it will interest you to know that the report presented to you this afternoon is derived from our collective input during the several sessions we held as a team. We did not just carefully examine the five thematic pillars as presented by the government’s transition team; we also took time to consider other information availed to the Committee through interactions with relevant stakeholders in the state. We had robust meetings with the Nigeria Police and the Department of State Security to gain firsthand information on the challenges and opportunities facing this important segment of our population in the course of deepening governance across the state.

“Our perspectives, recommendations, and suggestions are well captured in this report as a work in progress that could further be expanded for a more detailed and fact-finding effort to address the challenges in the state.”