• Signs audit bill into law, considers Audit Service Commission
• As groups oppose gov’s plans to build a museum for returned artefacts
Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, has urged citizens to transcend politics and electioneering campaigns in the state and work with the government to realise his administration’s Make Edo Great Again (MEGA) agenda.
Obaseki, who insisted that MEGA agenda was aimed at improving livelihoods and ensuring economic prosperity for Edo people, gave the charge while receiving new executive of the Ijaw Youths Council of Nigeria, Edo Chapter, who visited him at the Government House, Benin City.
He said his administration is focusing on education, healthcare and electricity, reassuring that everyone would be carried along in his government.
Reassuring his administration’s commitment to ensure that development gets to Ijaw and all other communities of the state, he said: “I am keen on the economic development of the area, but we can only make progress when we are united.
“Political and ethnic harmony is important as this will allow us to speak with one voice and work together with the collective interest of lifting our people.”
Responding, leader of the delegation, Comr. Peter Toruwei, commended Obaseki for his role and support for the Ijaw nation and reaffirmed their support and commitment to the success of the Obaseki-led administration.
BESIDES, Obaseki signed the Edo State Audit Bill 2021 into law to ensure accountability and transparency in governance.
The governor, who signed the bill at the Government House in Benin City, thanked the State House of Assembly for passing the amendment bill expeditiously.
He stressed that the bill would allow for the establishment of the Edo State Audit Service Commission (ASC) and Office of the Auditor-General at the state and council levels to ensure accountability and transparency in the handling of public resources.
MEANWHILE, a coalition of Benin youth groups yesterday opposed Governor Obaseki’s plans to build the Edo Museum of West African Arts (EMWAA) that would house repatriated artifacts.
This followed barely one week after Obaseki unveiled plans for Benin City Cultural District at the EMWAA Pavilion during the 2021 National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM).
But in a joint statement issued by the President, National Union of Edo South Youth, Osaghae Collins, President, Benin Solidarity Movement, Curtis Ugbor and President, One Love Foundation, Patrick Eholor, the groups vowed to resist attempts by the state government to preside or decide where the artefacts to be returned would be kept.
