Governors-elect protest outgoing governors skipping transition panels

The fact that the departing governors of many states are allegedly not working with their successors raises strong suspicions that the transition process is not proceeding without hitches in those states.

Following the development, the panels established by the incoming governors are interrogating the state’s financial health, which is causing unrest.

Before Dauda Dare’s inauguration on May 29, Zamfara State Governor Bello Matawalle was charged with failing to work with the incoming administration.

In an interview on Monday, Faruku Ahmed, the state’s PDP publicity secretary, emphasised that Matawalle had abandoned the state and had been avoiding the governor-elect ever since he lost his bid for reelection.

Ahmed also claimed that Matawalle had left the state two months prior and was failing to cooperate with the new administration’s transition plan.

“Governor Bello Mattawalle is not willing to cooperate with the committees appointed by the incoming governor to find out the true picture of things,” Ahmed said. The incoming administration of Dauda Lawan Dare has been attempting to obtain some pertinent information from the outgoing administration.

Because Governor Matawalle is unwilling to prepare handing over notes, the incoming governor appointed subcommittees to visit the ministries, departments, and other agencies in order to gather pertinent information.

He denounced those who criticised the committee the incoming governor appointed to look into state ministries, departments, and other government agencies.

”So that he would know where to start and how to recover some government properties and funds allegedly diverted by the outgoing administration of Governor Bello Matawalle in the last four years,” he said Dare had every right to appoint committees to provide him with pertinent information on the activities of the outgoing administration.

To ensure a smooth transition and takeover of power on May 29, the incoming governor recently established a committee under the direction of a former Inspector-General of Police, Muhammed Abubakar.

The appointed committees will learn the reality of the situation for the incoming administration because Governor Matawalle is not prepared to work with it.

“As a result, we won’t wait until the delivery date. The PDP spokesman stated, “We will continue to invite senior government employees and elected officials to come and provide clarifications.

APC criticises the newly elected governor

However, Yusuf Idris, the publicity secretary for the Zamfara State All Progressive Congress, criticised the claim that Mattawalle had left the state, calling it false.

Idris explained over the phone that the governor had only left the state to attend significant events.

He claimed Ahmed was unable to determine whether or not the governor was present in the state.

“Governor Matawalle has been visiting the state, but he returns to attend some crucial events for the advancement of the state,” he said. Whoever claimed he hasn’t been around since he lost the election is just trying to damage Matawalle’s reputation.

“I want people to understand that government operations continue without interruption whether the governor is present in the state or not.”

Alhaji Ibrahim Dosara, the state’s commissioner for information, also criticised Dare for appointing committees to gather data on the operations of ministries, departments, and agencies.

In a statement, Dosara claimed that this was against the law because Matawalle was still the governor as of May 29.

Therefore, he requested that no information be disclosed to the incoming administration by MDAs or other organisations without the approval of the transition committee chosen by the outgoing administration.

“This is to inform the general public that it has come to the attention of Zamfara State government that some members of the incoming government transition committee are currently going around ministries and departments of the government collecting information and conducting investigations into the activities of the MDAs,” the statement said, in part.

Following the controversy surrounding the two transition committees that Governor Samuel Ortom and Alia established, there does not appear to be any love lost between the incoming administration in Benue and the governor-elect, Rev Father Hyacinth Alia.

Speaking on behalf of Mike Iordye, the chairman of the transition committee, Daniel Ihomun, the state’s APC publicity secretary, said Prof. Tony Ijohor, SAN, the secretary to the state government, and his committee were not being very cooperative.

He also bemoaned the lack of renovations to the presidential lodge, which was supposed to be the temporary lodging for the governor-elect.

He declared, “The outgoing administration has been hiring more people at a time when it cannot pay those who have been on the job for more than 10 months; it cannot pay pensioners, yet it is hiring more people to increase the burdens on the incoming administration.

Why now, given that this government hasn’t hired anyone in over seven years, is the question.

On May 28, however, the state government has announced that it will formally transfer power to the incoming administration.

After the State Executive Council meeting, the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mike Inalegwu, spoke to the media and explained that this would allow the incoming administration to celebrate on May 29 and shorten the lengthy transition procedures.

The departing Umar Ganduje administration in Kano State was also charged with failing to work with the transition team for the New Nigeria Peoples Party, which was led by Dr. Bappa Bichi.

In a recent press conference, the committee claimed that Ganduje was undermining the transition plan by refusing to cooperate as required.

The Governor-elect’s chief press secretary, Sanusi Tofa, said in a statement to our correspondent that “it was after that press conference we started getting cooperation, but not full cooperation or as expected.”

However, a senior state government official said over the phone on Monday that the Ganduje administration had given the NNPP transition committee everything it required. The official spoke on condition of anonymity.

The official, who was pleased with the committee’s performance thus far, appealed for patience to ensure a smooth transfer of power on May 29.

The same issue is reportedly occurring in Abia State, where the transition committee established by the incoming governor, Alex Otti, is reportedly clashing with the outgoing governor, Okezie Ikpeazu.

Rev. Fr. Christian Anokwuru, Otti’s representative on the Abia State Government Handover Committee, revealed that the committee’s work had been hampered by the delay in delivering the handover documents.

Obtaining information about the state’s finances could be difficult because, in the words of Anokwuru, “it is expected that the outgoing administration would make the handover documents available to the governor-elect early enough to allow him to study the content before May 29.

“The handover documents, which cover the activities of the government from April 2015 to April 2023, should have been prepared.

“Unfortunately, it seems that the government committee is more focused on getting ready for the swearing-in ceremony than it is on the documents. The governor-elect must devote some time to studying the handover documents if the government insists that they will only be made available on May 29.

Since the transition committee reported that the transition programme was on track, it appears that the situation in Plateau State is a little different.

However, Yiljap Abraham, the chairman of the publicity subcommittee, complained that the departing administration had not made any funds available to support the inauguration.

He said, “We are still awaiting the government in that regard(release of funds). We just hope that they will cooperate. We have a date already fixed for the inauguration of the governor-elect and that is May 29. But for now, no funds have been released to the transition committee.”