Transition : APC team acting in bad faith.
Tony Okonigene writes from Benin
The sudden impasse that has befallen the transition exercise involving the teams set up by the outgoing governor of Edo state and the governor-elect did not come as a surprise to some political analysts like myself. The exercise was bound to crash because of the premeditated mindset of the APC team.
I started having my doubts about the chances of success of the exercise when I saw the names that make up the APC team. The APC state chairman deliberately chose people who have unhidden hatred for Governor Obaseki to populate the team . Whereas Governor Obaseki populated his team with civil servants who have stakes even beyond his administration, the APC brought in politicians who have openly declared their hatred for governor Obaseki. It was therefore expected that these politicians will not view things objectively.
Another development that further fueled my fear was the opening remarks by the APC team leader, His Excellency, Dr Pius Odubu. His speech was combative and speculative. He declared that he was the sole chairman of the two teams. How can you, a nominee of a governor-elect head the nominees of a sitting governor? The Obaseki’s team allowed this obvious mischief to slide. He went ahead to start speculating about the Obaseki’s team hiding some documents.
The APC team came with a premeditated mindset of coming to discover a can of worms whereby they will turn the exercise into a circus of alarms of how the state has been defrauded by the Obaseki led PDP administration. They were however, disappointed by the unhindered flow of information granted them. This was not what they expected.
The paperless approach of presenting reports through graphics and new technologies was what the analog dominated team of the APC could not cope with. They therefore decided to demand for hard copies or boycott the meetings.
One thing that we must understand is that setting up transition committees is not a constitutional matter. Governor Godwin Obaseki only set up the team to show his commitment towards having a smooth handling over process. Whether there is a transition or not, the governor-elect will be sworn into office on November 13th. You can then start digging up any document you want then. This was not expected by the APC. They thought that the governor will hide information but atlas he has opened up. This was the same scenario that played out at the national level in 2015. The APC will use a better time raising false alarms instead of delivering on their campaign promises.
The APC should inject its team with professionals who can assist them in breaking down and explaining the highly tech driven documents the Obaseki’s team has placed before them. This will help the team and save us from another round of falsehood.
Tony Okonigene writes from Benin
