Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, has announced plans to investigate the tenure of former governor Godwin Obaseki.
Okpebholo, who succeeded Obaseki after the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lost to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2024, revealed that his administration would establish a Commission of Inquiry to scrutinise his predecessor’s performance and records.
He made this known on Friday while addressing APC leaders, civil servants, market women, youths, professionals, and various groups during a victory parade held at the Government House in Benin City.
“I will open the books to check the financial dealings and how Obaseki governed Edo State in the last eight years. A university in this State received N47 million under Obaseki’s administration, while he paid a consultant N51 million. This was not good enough. They wanted to continue with this act, but God helped us to push them out,” Okpebholo stated.
“Since I came into the office, I have not sacked anybody but rather continued with the civil servants I met in the office. The Head of Service during Obaseki’s administration is still working with me. So also with a lot of Permanent Secretaries in the civil service.”
According to the governor, officials who served in Obaseki’s government would also be interrogated on how they governed the Edo people in the last eight years.
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“Edo was tired of transactional people and thieves, but now we will look into their records. I will take two years out of eight years, and Edo people will see the difference. We will set up a Commission of Inquiry to look into the books and dealings of the previous administration. We will open an interrogation to check their records.
“They have finished fighting us, and now I am ready to fight back and ensure that all those who cheated Edo people in the last eight years are brought to book,” he said.
He specifically said that the PDP candidate in the last governorship election, Asue Ighodalo and his party kept money for the election as well as for court cases.
“They were looking for judges to bribe or buy, but they could not find any. They kept money for the election as well as court cases, but God disappointed them. The people voted for me as their Governor, and the various courts affirmed the mandate. The Supreme Court judgment is the final as the five judges ruled in my favour,” Okpebholo said.
Deputy Governor Dennis Idahosa, celebrating the Supreme Court verdict, praised Governor Okpebholo’s role in steering the party through the legal battles that secured their mandate. He urged party faithful to shift focus from courtroom victories to delivering tangible results for the people of Edo State.
Meanwhile, former deputy governor, Comrade Philip Shaibu, also expressed gratitude for the outcome, describing it as an answered prayer. He called on the new administration to justify the trust Edo people placed in them, saying citizens would look back with pride for electing Senator Monday Okpebholo.