The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has said his government will sustain reforms and programmes to improve the livelihoods and welfare of the people.
Obaseki, while addressing journalists in Benin City, said his government is committed to ensuring infrastructural development, industrial growth, job creation opportunities and economic prosperity for the state.
According to him, “We hope to do more roads, more schools and improve on the school structure.”
Speaking on the government’s achievements across all sectors of the state’s economy, the governor said, “I think we should look at the evidence and look at what is on ground in terms of the economy. This year, 2022, we have moved our Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to about N41bn for the year. Next year, we expect it to hit N60 billion.
“We have been able to, on a monthly basis, earn close to N3.5bn. Add that to what we receive from Abuja as well as efforts to eliminate all the wastage and reduce corruption in the system, we have made more resources available for the government to undertake more infrastructural work.”
He further noted, “We pay our teachers and public servants on the 25th of every month. Their salaries are guaranteed and pension is paid at the same time. This has helped to boost morale. Beyond that, we have gone further to retrain the public servants on how to provide services. We hire on merit unlike what used to happen in the past.
“In terms of the economy, you can see that the government is able to offer more services to the people. We are able to give people what they need. Yes, we have not been able to complete all the roads but at least, we have been able to do more roads and connect more communities, make routes to make business easier for people.
“We have been able to invest in other infrastructure particularly, fibre technology. We have been able to digitalize governance and improve the quality of services in government. We are simplifying governance. We are bringing the government closer to the people. We are making it more open, more transparent, and more accountable to the people.”