By Kevin Okunzuwa
Benin – Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo says the far-reaching reforms and people-oriented policies that have changed the fortunes of the people will earn him a second term.
Obaseki said this at the Alaghodaro 2019 Summit held in Benin City, the Edo capital, to celebrate his third year in office.
“In spite of the very difficult and uncertain political environment in which we have operated in the last one year, we are grateful to God that we are able to achieve all these successes recorded.
“I am particularly happy that we have engendeed hope in the youths by showing them path ways to fulfilling and successful lives.
“Election is next year. In spite of the anxieties associated with the polls, I want to assure our partners and other investors that the foundational and fundamental reforms, which we have undertaken and are very popular, have brightened chances of continuity.
“We, thherefore, encourage you to continue with your various investment programmes. .
“In the last three years, we have been guided and governed by certain key values and tenets such as accountability, transparency, and probity in the conduct of state matters.
“This may not have gone well with few actors in our society. Today we can boldly tell you that when we came to office, the total revenues by all local governments in the state was N31 million monthly, but as at October 2019, we stood at a monthly revenue of N205 million.
” We are not there yet because there is still room for improvements. We will continue to grow,” he said.
According to him, “After three years in office, we have established credibility, not only with our civil servants, retirees, and contractors, but we have continued to promote reliability in the flow of services and commercial transactions.
“This is the basic minimum expectation that we have set for ourselves so that we can build on the fundamental reforms, which we embarked upon to transform Edo into a predominantly private sector driven economy, capable of creating jobs, improving the quality of lives and reducing insecurity.”
Chairman, Alaghodaro: Edo Summit, Mr Asue Ighodalo, said that the event was organised for communicating and reviewing the progress recorded by the Obaseki-led administration in Edo .
Ighodalo said that the government had recorded impressive achievements to place the state on the path of growth.
He said, “We have done a lot in the education sector, so much so that people from different parts of the world are coming to learn from us in Edo State.
“The achievements are visible in basic education, health and industrial sectors,” he claimed.
(NAN)
