All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders in Edo State have urged Governor Monday Okpebholo to redeploy Government House employees who worked with his immediate predecessor, Godwin Obaseki’s, administration.
Speaking on behalf of the Edo APC leaders of thought, Momodu Adams, the party’s spokesman, stated that the governor cannot keep the employees in their current positions because they have grown accustomed to working with Obaseki and that keeping them in their current roles would pose a security risk.
Adams said that everyone from the Permanent Secretary of the Government House, Edith Sede, to caterers urgently needs to be redeployed.
He said Sede is a known loyalist of Obaseki and the former Secretary to the State Government SSG, Osarodion Ogie, and that she is still working with all the civil servants in Government House who served in the administration of Obaseki, a development he described as frustrating for Okpebholo’s appointees.
“During major events in the State, Mrs Sede engages loyalists of the PDP and Obaseki to handle the cooking and other official arrangements.”
“Within the Government House, Sede has retained cooks who served in Obaseki’s administration. This arrangement is causing serious disarray, as appointees are now afraid of being poisoned.”
“APC leaders are worried about the development because some persons are leaking official documents in their possession to PDP leaders, especially Ogie and Asue Ighodalo, who are trying to upturn the victory of Governor Okpebholo at the Tribunal.”
“If something urgent is not done, who knows what will happen next?”
“All protocol officers in Government House including those who serve tea to Governor Okpebholo are loyalists of Obaseki who are being retained by the Permanent Secretary. Accountants, procurement officers, cooks, drivers, and 98 percent of the staff who worked in Government House during Obaseki’s administration, are still in Okpebholo’s administration.”
“For instance, Governor Okpebholo currently has no retainership with any media house because there are people scheming to frustrate Okpebholo’s administration by ensuring that he gets bad press.”
“We understand that media houses and journalists in Edo State are losing patience with Governor Okpebholo’s administration. When the media starts its own war with the new administration, it will mess it up, and that is what some people want. They frustrate everything that will give the Okpebholo administration the needed good image,” Adams stated.
