The All Progressives Congress (APC) transition committee on Sunday, confirmed that it did not invite the outgoing Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, to the inauguration of Senator Monday Okpebholo as the new governor.
They cited concerns that Obaseki intended to disrupt the ceremony.
Senator Monday Okpebholo, the APC candidate emerged as the governor-elect, to take over from the outgoing governor Obaseki whose eight years of two terms comes to an end on November 12, 2024.
Okpebholo defeated his closest rival Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and 15 other political party candidates at the September 21, 2024 governorship election.
Prince Kassim Afegbua, a member of the APC transition committee in a statement made available to newsmen in Benin City, titled, “Obaseki and his lamentations”, noted that rather than sit down to plan the inauguration event as it is done in other climes, the outgoing governor was busy planting landmines on the path to smooth transfer of power.
Afegbua also denied the allegation by Governor Obaseki, that the governor-elect has borrowed between N2 billion and N5 billion from the almost N27 billion his government set aside for the payment of projects and obligations for the inauguration.
Last Friday, while inaugurating the 10-man caretaker committee of the State’s chapter of PDP on Friday, Obaseki stated that he as the governor of the state was not invited to the inauguration.
According to him, during this holiday period, they will want to spend as much money as possible to confuse the people. They are going to struggle to change their perception.
“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.
In its response, the APC transition committee described Governor Obaseki’s remarks as generously laughable and self-indicting.
“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.“
Meanwhile, Monday Okpebholo has been undertaking a dress rehearsal ahead of his big day.