The Secretary to the All Progressives Congress (APC) Transition Committee, Patrick Ikhariale, on Friday, faulted the outgoing Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration of Governor Godwin Obaseki in Edo State, saying the state government has not presented the necessary documents that will enable a smooth transition process, a situation that has hindered the work of the APC Transition Committee......See Full Story>>.....See Full Story>>
He called on all well-meaning members of the public to disregard the tissue of lies and misinformation by the outgoing government of Edo State.
Ikhariale said the misrepresentation of facts by the Edo State government on the Edo State Joint Transition Committee was a deliberate ploy to mislead the public and Edo people into believing that the APC is not ready for a smooth transition in the state.
Ikhariale added that, in light of this, the APC Transition Committee, led by His Excellency, Dr. Pius Odubu, as Chairman, hereby wishes to clarify some of the false claims and untruths put in the public domain by officials of the state government, overtly or covertly.
He said, “It is on record that the inaugural meeting of the APC Transition Committee with the outgoing government’s team held on Friday, 18th October 2024, at the JOOPSA Hall, GRA, Benin City.
“Despite the very cordial atmosphere of mutuality and robust engagement that characterised the inaugural meeting, information from the Government Team tried to scandalise the APC Transition Committee, with outlandish claims that we were asking for sitting allowances and that our request for hard copies was because members of the APC Committee were not tech-savvy.
“We find these false claims vexatious, underwhelming, insulting, barbaric, and completely misleading. Nothing of such was discussed or raised during and after our plenary.”
Ikhariale said at the meeting that the APC Transition Committee stated unequivocally that documents to be submitted should be in soft and hard copies for ease of reference.
“This position was agreed upon by both teams, and the government team gave assurances that those documents would be submitted to the APC Transition Committee before the following meeting scheduled for Monday, 21st October 2024.
“The APC Transition Committee wrote officially on the 18th of October to the Government Team detailing what to provide. Despite assurances from the Government Team, the two sets of documents sent so far are scanty and vague in respect of the expected details covering the scope of the information sought,” Ikhariale said.