. Gov proceeds on terminal leave, hands over State affairs to SSG
. Directs SSG to prepare, submit handover notes to Gov-elect on Nov 12
Ben Ogbemudia, Abuja
Outgoing Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki may have left the country, abandoning the Government and the State to a former Commissioner.
Obaseki’s handing over to the SSG is seen by many Edolites as a clear violation of the Court order reinstating his Deputy, Rt. Hon. Comrade Philip Shaibu.
It was gathered that Before Obaseki left Benin City by road to Lagos in the late hours of Thursday the 27th of September, he illegally handed-over the reins of power to his close ally and ex-Commissioner for Finance, Joseph Eboigbe, who doubles as the Secretary to the Edo State Government and Chairman, Transition Committee.
Exactly at 8.56 pm, according to inside sources in Government House, Obaseki and his wife, Betsy boarded a Turkish airline transit flight Tk626 at the International Wing of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport via Istanbul to Venice, Italy.
They arrived at Instabul on Saturday the 28th of September 2024 at 5.40 am. Upon arrival in Istanbul, after boarding the connecting Turkish Airline flight Tk1867 from Istanbul to Venice, the flight took-off exactly 7.02 am and arrived at their final destination at 8.29 am.
It was learnt that Obaseki and his wife will remain in Venice to attend the 60th Biennale Foundation International Cultural Exhibition, which will end in the third week of November 2024.
The Governor had written the State Legislature for approval of his terminal leave, but he chose to proceed before it was approved.
To confirm the Governor’s disappearance from the State, the midweek EXCO meeting last week was virtual, with the governor imploring all members of his exco to direct all their requests to Eboigbe, who he gave up to 30th of October 2024 to finalise handover documents to formally submit same to the Governor-elect on November 12.
Recall that on July 11, 2024, Obaseki inaugurated a 20-man transition committee Chaired by Mr Eboigbe. In 2017, Obaseki was appointed the Commissioner of the Nigerian Pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale Exhibition by the Buhari administration. It was in that capacity he attended the Venice Biennale Exhibition in April 2024.
The Obasekis are believed to have a posh vacation mansion in Venice, Italy, which they plan to make their retirement home, raising questions about Mrs Obaseki’s job at the Bank of Industry.
