Crusoe Osagie, the media aide to the immediate past governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, has said that the move by Governor Monday Okpebholo to probe Obaseki’s government is a smokescreen to cover his incompetence and unpreparedness for office.

Osagie said in a statement that Okpebholo does not have a clear vision to drive development in the State.

The media aide noted that the governor is resorting to cheap political theatrics and using a circus of meaningless probes to distract from his glaring incompetence and lack of direction.

According to him, Okpebholo was acting as if the people of Edo State were an undiscerning mob and was now staging a spectacle similar to a gladiatorial duel in the Ancient Roman Colosseum, with the plan to deceive the people with such theatrics and diversionary probes.

“Our attention has been drawn to a laughable and utterly ridiculous statement by the Monday Okpebholo’s administration setting up a 14-member State Assets Verification Committee to probe the administration of his predecessor, His Excellency, Godwin Obaseki, who is globally acclaimed to have run one of the most transparent, accountable and prudent government’s in the history of Nigeria.

“This is another in the list of the barrage of meaningless probes which the governor and his directionless government is embarking on since they got into Dennis Osadebey Avenue through the back door.

“From probing civil servants’ employment to probing Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), and probing vehicles and other assets of government, among others, the governor-select has continued to show that he is bereft of ideas and lacks a clear vision for the development of the State and has therefore resorted to these charades of empty probes to buy time and distract from his incompetence and unpreparedness for office.

“His plan is to treat Edo people like an undiscerning mob that you can distract with a show like the duel of gladiators in the Ancient Roman Colosseum.

“But Okpebholo will soon learn that he is the governor with the hardest job in Nigeria because the Edo people of Edo State are wise and can hardly be fooled. His diversionary probes may succeed in deceiving people in some States in Nigeria but certainly not those in Edo State,” the statement read.

Recall that Governor Okpebholo unveiled the formation of a 14-member State Assets Verification Committee to investigate the administration of his predecessor, Godwin Obaseki.

The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Fred Itua, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday.

He said the committee will be inaugurated on Tuesday, 26 November, 2024, at Government House in Benin City.