The Transition Committee of Edo Governor-Elect, Monday Okpebholo, has denied borrowing funds for the inauguration ceremony slated for Tuesday.
The outgoing Gov. Godwin Obaseki had accused the committee of borrowing N5 billion to organise the ceremony.
Obaseki’s administration also accused the governor-elect of not inviting him for the inauguration ceremony, sparking concerns about the transfer of power.
A statement by Kassim Afegbua, a member of the committee on Sunday in Benin, said the governor-elect had opted to fund the inauguration from his personal resources to avoid any unnecessary expenses.
Afegbua said the decision was made after the committee’s meeting with the Secretary to the State Government and a Permanent Secretary, who requested an inauguration budget.
Afegbua stated that they declined to present a budget to avoid potential accusations of misusing the funds.
Afegbua criticised Obaseki’s administration, alleging that Obaseki was frustrating the inauguration process and overburdening the new administration with last-minute decisions.
He said the governor-elect was committed to making life better for the average Edo person and did not believe in an ostentatious display of resources.
“Suddenly, Godwin Obaseki, realises 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 organises the inauguration of the incoming, but for the painful loss of the PDP at the election, Gov. Obaseki and his co-travellers are doing everything possible to frustrate the inauguration of the incoming governor.
“Rather than sit down to plan the inauguration event as it is done in other climes, Gov. Obaseki is busy planting landmines on the path to smooth transfer of power.
“From the transition committee to the inauguration committee, despite all the cooperation we have extended to them, what we have received in return is frustration and deliberate plot to overburden the new administration with all manner of misplaced government decisions.
“We totally frown at these dubious plots which are clear negations of the standard procedures of power transfer the world over,” he said.
Afegbua also said that most government vehicles had been carted away by government officials, leaving only one functional vehicle at the Edo Government House. (NAN)
