Obaseki inaugurates transition panel four months to handover

The Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, on Thursday, inaugurated a 20-member transition committee to pilot the smooth transition of power and knowledge to the next administration, four months to the end of his administration.

The committee is chaired by a former Commissioner for Finance in the state, Joseph Eboigbe.

Obaseki inaugurated the committee at the EXCO Chambers, in Government House, Benin City, with some members of the committee joining virtually.

The governor said, “Today is the 11th of July, 2024 and it will mark exactly four months to the day I will hand over government to the next elected governor of Edo State. As it’s global best practice, I am putting together a transition team that would have the responsibility to document the achievement of this administration in the last eight years.

“The team will look and retrieve all documents and all other materials relating to policy decisions that have been taken by this administration in every area of government and governance over the last seven years and put the same in a structured order in a data room. I believe that most of these materials have almost been digitised.

“A proper digital and regular data room would be created where all documents related to every activity, contract, EXCO decision, presentation, and policy paper in every area will be retrieved, documented, and chronicled as it will serve as institutional memory for the next and subsequent administrations.”

He explained further that the transition committee would put together reports on each area and aspect of government his administration had intervened, adding that recommendations would be made for the next administration.

“This document and resources should serve to smoothly transfer power and knowledge from this administration to the next. We would have both the physical and digital repository of all the information and decisions taken during the life of this administration as these documents will be relevant both for internal and external consumption and research and possibly policy development.

“This report will also give a detailed account of the strategic vision and outlook of the administrative structure, policy impact, and completed programmes and initiatives as well as uncompleted programmes and initiatives to enable the incoming administration to know where to take off from.

“This report should be completed before the 30th of October 2024, as this document will form parts of what will be handed over during the transition period on November 11th, 2024,” Obaseki said.

In his response, the Chairman of the Committee, Eboigbe promised that the committee would diligently discharge their duties, pledging to deliver the report within the timeline given by the governor.