Obaseki’s Endless Wait for Saints as Cabinet Members

Adibe Emenyonu writes that eight months after being sworn in for a second term in office, Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State is still waiting for the saints to come down from the heaven before he constitutes a cabinet and hit the ground runnng.

Immediately after he was sworn in for a second term in office at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin, on November 12, 2020, Governor Godwin Nogheghase Obaseki announced the reappointment of Mr. Osarodion Ogie as Secretary to State Government (SSG). He went further to say that all other political appointments would be made by February this year.

With his promise, expectations were high especially for those nursing the ambition to become political appointees. Even at that, members of his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who initially raised eyebrows swallowed their venom and gave him the benefits of the doubt.

But when the month of February came, the good people of Edo State were told that due to the impromptu marriage the governor had with the PDP after being chased away by his former party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), he needed to understudy the new bride so as to live in harmony with her and avoid a repeat of his experience in APC.

As the people waited patiently, another terminology, harmonisation, was invented to justify his delay in constituting a cabinet.

The governor said there was a need to harmonise positions in the PDP since his government was a combined efforts of breakaway members of his former party, APC and his new party.

To actualise this, he muted the idea of collapsing the party structure to elect new party executives across board.

Although this move did not go down well with the party leadership, it was however, forced to swallow its pride so as not to be seen as rocking the boat too early.

With this convincing argument, the goal post was further shifted to the end of April to allow the harmonisation committee finish its work and come up with an acceptable position so that everyone would reap from the bountiful harvest.

Before this could be achieved, the state Chairman of the party, Dr. Tony Aziegbemi was suspended by same persons that signed a protest letter prevailing on the party National Working Committee (NWC) to call the governor to order over his suggestion of collapsing an already constituted wards, local government, senatorial and state party executives to integrate his own loyalists from APC.

Realising the futility of his motives, Obaseki hurriedly asked all those interested in political appointments to approach a screening committee, chaired by a former Vice Chancellor of Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma, Prof. Dennis Agbolahor, for screening.

To make the entire process look democratic, prospective applicants were also asked to get endorsement from the various political leaders in their domain as part of criteria for consideration.

It was gathered that Agbolahor’s committee had since submitted its report but rather than acting on it and making the appointments, Obaseki allegedly pocketed the report and travelled overseas.

This latest behaviour has thickened the suspicion that the governor is merely buying time and not in a hurry to constitute a cabinet.

To confirm speculations that he is playing on the intelligence of people of the state, the governor had three months ago, written to the 10-member state House of Assembly for approval to appoint Special Advisers and an express approval was given.

But till date, he has not announced any name for the generous approval he obtained from the lawmakers.

There were speculations that the state is broke and cannot finance the appointments, hence Obaseki’s delay tactics and decision to run a dysfunctional administration where only him will be in charge, devoid of accountability.

His political opponents are also of the view that his refusal to appoint a cabinet is an indication that his second term campaign mantra “Make Edo Great Again” (MEGA) was not just a mere slogan but stage show.

The opposition APC in particular, has described the situation as no longer funny but deliberate act to cover up ‘something.’ The party argued that the state is broke and lacks the funds to sustain the cabinet members when appointed.

In his comments, a former Director of Publicity of the APC, in the 2020 governorship election, Mr. John Mayaki, described the situation as regrettable, predicting that the wait is going to be a long one. He noted that the delay would certainly set the state backward and become a recurring incident in successful administrations.

He maintained that being a second-term governor, Obaseki has no excuse whatsoever not to immediately appoint his commissioners and other aides. According to him, imagine a governor who has no media aide – no Chief Press Secretary, no Special Adviser Media, no Commissioners for Information, Attorney General and other key positions; what does that tell you other than incompetence and lack of fund?

He added that it is either the governor lack confidence in those who worked with him before, the capacity to govern or taking the people for granted.

Concerns have been raised on how the governor intends to implement the 2021 budget without a cabinet, given the functions of a cabinet in approving and driving huge projects and infrastructural development.

It has been argued that it would be difficult to implement, especially a capital item in the budget amounting to N2 billion in a particular ministry, when the commissioner is mandatorily required to present the proposal to the State Executive Council (EXCO) for approval.

Curiously, Obaseki’s party, the PDP seems to be in a fix, having discovered too late in the day that the man they got married to is not what he packaged himself to be when the marriage was consummated. The party is forced to adopt the “sit down and see” attitude for fear of getting unfavourable treatment.

When asked to react to the delay by Obaseki to constitute a cabinet eight months after his inauguration, the state PDP Publicity Secretary, Mr. Chris Nehikhare could only muster: “I don’t want to be seen criticising the governor.”

Another close associate of the governor, who pleaded for anonymity also said: “I cannot criticise the governor when the committee he set up to screen commissioner-nominees and other political appointees just submitted their report last weekend and the governor just travelled overseas. I am sure when he comes back, he will look into the report before him and do the needful.”

In Edo State government, nobody takes responsibility for any action or inaction except the governor himself and nobody to call upon to react to any burning issues except occasional statements from the office of the Secretary to State Government (SSG), Osarodion Ogie, and equally occasional posts of government activities by the former SSA (Media) who has also not been reappointed.

Obaseki, who prides himself as a technocrat and investment banker, has so far demonstrated obvious lack of focus and direction to govern Edo State in his second term.

The common saying in Benin is that while Obaseki is probably waiting for the saints to come down from heaven and be appointed as commissioners, he has succeeded in putting governance to a standstill.

But since Obaseki cannot claim Sainthood because he is not, waiting for saints will be an endless wait. He should borrow a leaf from Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, who was inaugurated before him, but has since appointed commissioners in some key ministries to keep the wheel of government going without waiting for Saints.