It is confirmed that the outgoing Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki has handed over the reins of power to his close ally and ex-Commissioner for Finance Joseph Eboigbe, who doubles as the Secretary to the Edo State Government. The Governor during a virtual midweek exco meeting implored all members of his exco to direct all their requests to Eboigbe, who he gave up to 30th of October 2024 to finalise the handover documents of the outgoing, in order to formally submit same to the Governor-elect on the eve of his inauguration. Recall that on July 11 2024 Obaseki inaugurated a 20-man transition committee Chaired by Mr Eboigbe. The Committee consisted of members of the Governor’s kitchen cabinet and heads of relevant agencies. According to a Government House source believed to be a very close confidant of the Governor, the reason the Governor appointed Eboigbe as Secretary to the State Government was to place on him the responsibility of running a one-month transition government, in the event the Governor’s preferred candidate, Asue Ighodalo lost the September 21 2024 Edo governorship election. Before Obaseki left Benin city by road to Lagos in the late hours of Thursday the 27th of September, he formally handed-over the reins of power to Eboigbe. Exactly at 8.56 pm, Obaseki and his wife, Betsy boarded a Turkish airline transit flight Tk626 at the international wing of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport via Intanbul to Venice, Italy. They arrived Instabul on Saturday the 28th of September 2024 at 5.40 am. Upon arrival in Instabul after boarding the connecting Turkish Airline flight Tk1867 from Instabul to Venice the flight took-off exactly 7.02 am and arrived at their final destination 8.29 am. Obaseki and his wife will remain in Venice to attend the 60th Biennale Foundation International Cultural Exhibition, which will end in the third week of November 2024. In 2017 Obaseki was appointed the Commissioner of the Nigerian pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale Exhibition by the Buhari administration. It was in that capacity he attended the Venice Biennale Exhibition in April 2024. The Obasekis’ are believed to have a posh vacation mansion in Venice, Italy, which they plan to make their retirement home.