A media aide to former Governor Godwin Obaseki, Crusoe Osagie, on Wednesday, faulted the Edo State Asset Verification Committee set up by the Governor Monday Okpebholo government on its final report.

He stated that the committee report is targeted at maligning Obaseki’s administration.

The committee recommended that the state government must take steps to review all ongoing and past contracts under the Obaseki-led administration to ensure transparency and accountability.

The committee identified areas that required urgent attention including the use of consultants in the supposed management and operations of government businesses by the Obaseki-led administration.

Reacting, Osagie accused the APC-led government of witch-hunting Obaseki.

He said the report revealed that the committee was only a witch-hunt set up with an agenda to deliberately falsify facts and malign the good image of the immediate past government of Obaseki.

While insisting that Obaseki ran the most transparent government in the country, he noted that every asset and transaction that was carried out during the Obaseki administration is contained, with detailed explanations and data.

He, however, called on the public to disregard “these lies and kindly refer to the Transition Report, which is now a public document.

“All Edo people, and indeed all Nigerians, need to do is go into this report, trace any transaction being discussed, and find all the details therein. They can then approach the government through the Freedom of Information Act to request relevant documents related to what is stated in the Transition Report.

“It is more productive for a government to deal with facts rather than contrived data and since the primary responsibility of any government is to serve the people and improve their lives, it is these facts and verified data that will help drive meaningful progress and prosperity, not fiction or contrived data.

“We, therefore, urge Senator Monday Okpebholo and his administration to focus on the facts and verified data, and stop spreading falsehoods and telling unintelligent lies in a desperate attempt to achieve their selfish interests.”

The Edo State Assets Verification Committee, led by its chairman, Dr. Ernest Umakhihe on Wednesday, presented its final report to Okpebholo, urging the government to focus on areas where resources had been mismanaged or improperly allocated by Obaseki.