Mimiko assures Akeredolu of smooth transition, committee to be inaugurated soon

GOVERNOR Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State, on Wednesday, assured the new governor- elect in the state, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu that he would facilitate a smooth transition between his administration and the incoming government, saying his government will provide the ambiance for a smooth and seamless transition process.

Mimiko who stated this in office while receiving Akeredolu and members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) said his government is aware of the need to put in place a transition committee to collaborate and harmonise with the committee put together from incoming government camp to ensure a smooth handover exercise.

Mimiko stated that the transition would be first in the history of the state, noting that there has never been a seamless transition from a civilian to another civilian government, saying “I am proud to be part of this history making transition.”

He commended Akeredolu for the bold steps and said “It is unusual for an incoming governor to be this generous. We are making with history because in the history of this state, this is the first civilian to civilian transition that will be seamless and I’m proud to be part of this history.

The governor also expressed appreciation to the people of the state for their peaceful conduct during the elections and said “I use this medium to express my sincere appreciation to all our citizens for the peaceful manner they conducted themselves throughout the election period.”

He advised the governor- elect to uphold the peace in the state, noting that peace was one of his greatest accomplishments and enjoined the governor elect to sustain the feat.

Mimiko said the state remained one of the peaceful state in the country and said “greatest legacy you can give the people of this state is peace. It is our responsibility to ensure that the peace we have been enjoying in this state must be sustained. In working towards this, it involves a lot of political tolerance to create peaceful atmosphere and environment and I am sure you are a man of peace.

“I like to assure you that we will always be there to offer advice or whatever we have.

The fact that our transition is seamless, we must have a colourful inauguration and the best in the history of our state.

“We must break the jinx of hostile transition and we need to do this for history. We must make the change of hostile takeover in the state and I thank God that the mindset is the same.”

Earlier, Akeredolu commended governor Mimiko for his unequal service to the state in terms of developmental projects and turning the state to a cynosure of all eyes in the last eight years.

Akeredolu said “we all owe you debt of gratitude to the service you made to this great state. It may be difficult for many people to surpass your track record and achievement as you have served to the best of your ability.

I commend the governor for his service to the state and nobody can take that away from him. He dedicated his early part of his life to the state, he was a two time Commissioner for Health in the state, Secretary to the State Government, Minister and came back to govern the state for eight years. Nobody else has served for eight years and I think the whole state owe him a debt of gratitude because it’s good to commend people for whatever they have done.”

Akeredolu however said “For us we want to start where he stopped and improve on what he did and we want to do better than he did. There’s no need for us to create any tension, we believe what the people of this state want is peace, they believe they have voted for a new government, so let the new government come and prove its mettle, others have done their own parts.

Speaking on his visit, Akeredolu said “all we are here to do is to let you know we are together and for us to work together especially during this transitory period. Set a transition committee to work together and the two committees to meet and if it’s something we can do within some few weeks so that the committee would complete their job on time before February 24.

“We are making history with this transition because this will be a transition that is uncommon because it’s going to be transition between brothers and all we have done is in the interest of the state and to serve the state.”