Scrapping pension of former governors not on my card, he says
By Myke Uzendu
The Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, has stressed that his first assignment in his second tenure is to strengthen the capacity of Civil Servants by establishing Chief John Odigie Oyegun Academy, which will empower them with digital skills.
The governor further said that scarping the salaries and emoluments of ex-governor and former political office holders is not his priority as it consumes only a little chunk of the state’s budget.
The governor who renewed his oat of office on Thursday to usher in his second tenure said this in a Television Programme, ‘Politics Today’ on Channels Television which was monitored by The AUTHORITY.
He said, “Bureaucracy at the local government and the state has to be optimal. So, will be embarking on hiring more professionals to fill the core positions in the civil service. We are not likely to continue with the situation that we have today where there are more political appointees than civil servants in the state because it is quite disruptive.
“We are fortunate that we identified this problem earlier and we are working at the background, improving the systems of the civil service. We have identified need to retrain civil servants to the highest levels.
“We are planning to establish Chief John Odigie Oyegun Public Service Academy where we shall have digital investment to will focus on building capacity of civil servants.
Obaseki also revealed that his priority is not in scrapping the emolument of former political office holders but in strengthened the civil service and increasing investment in Agriculture.
“Loooking at those costs, they are not something that is limiting our capacity to function. The emolument of former political office holders are not that much in Edo, so it won’t be a priority for me” Obaseki stated.
On the breakdown of law and order and general insecurity in the state, the governor said that thugs that were brought in during the election and armed with all kinds of dangerous weapon were responsible for the rise in crimes in the state.
The governor went further to say that it was actually the thugs that broke into the two prisons in the state in an attempt to free their colleagues and burnt down parts of the facilities of the Nigerian Correctional Services.
