EDITORIAL: Transition Issues

The Governor-elect of the State of Osun in a statement a few days ago made mention of “unwholesome criminal activities by some government functionaries and political appointees……”.  He was clearly referring to the functionaries of the outgoing government.

The issue of the terms of engagement as one administration begins the process of handing over to a successor in Nigeria is a hardy perennial and we have commented on this before. Let us recall that in 2015, the current Information Minister, Lai Mohammed, then spokesman of the incoming government complained loudly that the outgoing Jonathan administration was not “ cooperating” with the incoming APC transition team.

Sadly, and characteristic of Nigerian politics, nothing was subsequently done to rectify the defect. This is shortsighted and unfortunate. It continues to be a recurring decimal stunting the development of our democracy and a stumbling block to orderly government. Governor-elect Adeleke’s unproven allegations are just the latest lamentation.

Nigeria needs a law to guide the process of transition from one government to another. We are not about to reinvent the wheel here. Admirable transition laws already exist in among other places, Ghana, the Republic of South Africa, Mexico, and the USA. We can adapt same to meet our needs.

We cannot continue to postpone an essential part of good governance. We can only speculate as to what might happen next year at the center. 

It is not too late for the present National Assembly to do something for posterity by passing a vitally needed transition law now.