The major opposition party in Edo State, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has criticized Governor Obaseki’s alleged refusal to appoint members of the state executive council, months after being sworn in as governor.
Col. David Imuse (rtd), Caretaker Committee chairman of the Delta State APC, stated this via a statement released by the Assistant Publicity Secretary of the party, Victor Osehobo.
Imuse, in his statement, said the avoidable delay in appointing cabinet members by the Edo State governor, Godwin Obaseki is “unacceptable”
The APC drew the attention of the governor to his recent promise of appointing commissioners and other cabinet members in the first week of February while announcing the appointment of the Secretary to the State Government on November 16, 2020.
The statement read in part:
This is the first week of March. The governor’s inaction has not only crippled the government’s business but demonstrated that he is a man whose word is not his bond.
Edo cannot afford further delay but for the governor to make these vital appointments. Section 192 of the Nigerian Constitution, as amended, is clear on the issue of state commissioners. Permanent secretaries cannot do much as they look up to commissioners for direction on policy issues.
The section gives the governor a public mandate rather than private, to appoint commissioners to form not just the state’s executive council, but also the think tank for the development of the state’s economy and well being of the people.
Right now, the day-to-day operations of the different state ministries, departments, and agencies, have come to a halt, while the coordination of important government businesses has become weaker with the unnecessary overload on the Secretary to the State Government.
Imuse said Obaseki has been running the state like a sole administrator without commissioners, adding that the governor was ruling the state ministries with just the permanent secretaries of the various ministries.
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Obaseki was elected into power in his first tenure under the APC but was disqualified before the primaries of the party, on the grounds some discrepancies in his academic documents. He decamped to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to seek the party’s flag. He got the nod from the PDP, won the governorship election and was returned to office for a second term against the wish of his embattled godfather, Adams Oshiomole.
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