Obaseki also reminded Okpebholo that the people of Edo State are not an undiscerning mob who can’t see through him
By Kehinde Okeowo
The immediate past governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki has described the attempt by the incumbent Governor, Monday Okpebholo to probe his administration as a smokescreen meant to cover his incompetence and unpreparedness for office.
Obaseki who spoke through his media aide, Crusoe Osagie, said his successor does not have a clear vision to drive development in the State.
TheNiche had earlier reported that Okpebholo on Sunday constituted a 14-man state Assets Verification Committee to probe the administration of his predecessor, Obaseki.
Speaking in a statement, he noted that, “Despite repeated calls for a more holistic database of the Assets and Liabilities of the previous administration, the Godwin Obaseki-led government came up with very scanty and limited assets and liabilities of the state.
“In line with the governor’s campaign promise to ensure probity, accountability and transparency in government, and to deepen the governance process, committee made up of respected sons and daughters from Edo State has to be constituted.”
Reacting to the development, Obaseki noted that the governor is resorting to cheap political theatrics and using a circus of meaningless probes to distract from his glaring incompetence and lack of direction.
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He further said Okpebholo was acting as if the people of Edo State were an undiscerning mob and was now staging a spectacle similar to a gladiatorial duel in the Ancient Roman Colosseum, with the plan to deceive the people with such theatrics and diversionary probes.
The statement read, “Our attention has been drawn to a laughable and utterly ridiculous statement by the Monday Okpebholo’s administration setting up a 14-member State Assets Verification Committee to probe the administration of his predecessor, His Excellency, Godwin Obaseki, who is globally acclaimed to have run one of the most transparent, accountable and prudent government’s in the history of Nigeria.
“This is another in the list of the barrage of meaningless probes which the governor and his directionless government is embarking on since they got into Dennis Osadebey Avenue through the back door.
“From probing civil servants’ employment to probing Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), and probing vehicles and other assets of government, among others, the governor-select has continued to show that he is bereft of ideas and lacks a clear vision for the development of the State and has therefore resorted to these charades of empty probes to buy time and distract from his incompetence and unpreparedness for office.
“His plan is to treat Edo people like an undiscerning mob that you can distract with a show like the duel of gladiators in the Ancient Roman Colosseum.
“But Okpebholo will soon learn that he is the governor with the hardest job in Nigeria because the Edo people of Edo State are wise and can hardly be fooled. His diversionary probes may succeed in deceiving people in some States in Nigeria but certainly not those in Edo State.”