After about five weeks of scrutiny, the Alhaji Ahmed Joda Transition Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Friday submitted an 800- page final report of its findings to President Muhammadu Buhari.

The event, which took place at the Defence House, Abuja, saw the committee submitting the compressed report from the over 18,000 pages it received from the Goodluck Jonathan administration to President Buhari.

Briefing State House correspondents, Joda said the committee got the cooperation of several groups to arrive at its recommendations.

“We have concluded our assignment which was given to us on the 29th of April. We spent about five weeks going through memorandum, listening to presentations from all over the country and sometimes from Nigerians living in different parts of the world.

“And I must say that we received wonderful cooperation from everybody in Nigeria, the business community, the professional people, the non-governmental organisations, society people.

“Everybody contributed to the success of our work. And today, we submitted about 800 pages of report and recommendations to the President. This is now his property and I think in due course he will begin to act on them,” he said.

Joda denied that the submission of the report had delayed the action of the president in administration and appointments but said that the president had to wait for the report.

He said that it took time to sort the report out, analyse, get experts to interview on it and make recommendations.

He also said that political appointments were at the discretion of the president, adding that with the paper work given to him he would make up his mind on what to do which required some time to do.

“In this country, we have never witnessed an occasion like this in which a political party in power lost an election and a political party in opposition won the election. This has never happened in this country.

“We have changed from, very politely before, from one civilian government to another. For example from Obasanjo to Umaru Yar’Adua; we have changed our government violently, through the military coup d’etats we have had, which did not require this long process.

“We are now in a process of law and order and of due process and these processes have to be followed in our country.

“And I think, it is part of the evolution of democracy; the country has to be a little bit more patient; it cannot be with immediate effect anymore,” Joda said.

He also said that to be able to present the report on time, the committee worked up to the last moment. (NAN)

•Photo shows Joda.

Update news