Edo: ‘Okpebholo Might Probe Obaseki After Getting Reports From Permanent Secretaries’

Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo is currently reviewing reports from permanent secretaries across various ministries to decide whether to launch a probe into the administration of his predecessor, Godwin Obaseki.

A government official, who spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to address the press, disclosed to Punch on Tuesday that the governor is awaiting comprehensive briefings to determine the scope and necessity of the probe.

The official said, “The governor is still being briefed by the permanent secretaries of the various ministries to know how the immediate past government fared.

“It is only after the governor gets the reports that he will know whether to institute a probe or not. Also, the report will also determine the extent of the probe.

“However, the people will come first in this administration and their interest will always come first.”

Former Governor Adams Oshiomhole, who backed Okpebholo to win the governorship poll, had made a case for Obaseki’s probe on September 26 when the Independent National Electoral Commission presented Okpebholo with the Certificate of Return.

Speaking on the occasion, which took place in Abuja, Oshiomhole had said, “God has brought him (Okpebholo) to rescue Edo people, restore integrity, rebuild our schools, employ teachers so that parents don’t need to contribute money to pay teachers.

“All the fraud that Obaseki was doing with so-called World Bank money, and I think the World Bank will want even to investigate what he did with that money when you have schools without teachers, and you are doing EdoBEST. He left Edo worse.”

Also speaking with Punch on Tuesday, the Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress in Edo State, Peter Uwadiae-Igbinigie, said looking into the book of the immediate-past government was normal but noted that it would not affect the developmental programmes the present government had lined up for the people of the state.

He said, “Our concern as a party and government is to better the lives of the people. The government has flagged off the flyover at Ramat Park on Tuesday morning and that shows our desire to hit the ground running.

“As to looking at the books of the past government, when we finally settle down, questions are going to be asked as to how our resources were managed in the last eight years, especially those that have to do with key components of governance.

“The government will have to look at the revenue that came into the state coffers and how they were utilised. It is a general practice all over the world that when a new government comes on board, there is a need for the books to be looked into.

“We are not trying to act out of order to look at what the immediate past government of the state did with our funds. We will look at the books, but we will not allow that to distract us.”