- Approves date for payment of 13th month salary for Edo workers
The Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, on Tuesday, presented a N325.3bn budget to the Edo State House of Assembly, for the 2024 fiscal year, which is a slight increase from the N320bn budgeted for the year 2023.
Obaseki, who presented the budget to the Assembly, at the Anthony Enahoro Assembly Complex in Benin City, said the budget is made up of N178 billion for capital and N146 billion for recurrent expenditure.
Obaseki said with the budget christened, ‘Budget Home Run: Finishing Strong,’ his government intends to, despite the global economic headwinds and attendant implications for the national economy, marshal resources to complete ongoing projects across the State in furtherance of government’s commitment to the wellbeing and prosperity of Edo State and sustain efforts to improve the ease of doing business, consolidate on key reform programmes and conclude all transactions needed to stimulate economic growth.
The governor noted that the total projected revenue for 2024 is N303 billion, consisting of N55billion statutory allocation, Value Added Tax (VAT) of N38billion, capital receipts of 40bn; IGR of N72 billion and N10 billion from grants, among others, adding that “the revenue estimates are based on a $65 per barrel benchmark for crude oil with an average daily production of 1.60m barrels per day as well as an increase in Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to N72bn, which will be bolstered by reforms in revenue collection, property laws and land management reforms.”
Obaseki said the focus areas for the 2024 fiscal year include growth and employment enablers such as the trailer and transit parks, ICT infrastructure, Benin Port projects, which will gulp N85bn; road and transport infrastructure, N62bn; health, N33bn; education, N32bn and buildings, physical planning and development control, N21bn.
Other areas include Social Welfare/Benefits N16bn; Environment, N5bn; Electricity, N7bn; Agriculture, N6bn and Youth, Social Development and Gender, N6bn.
According to him, the 2024 budget is informed by the need to build a resilient and sustainable foundation for the reforms, initiatives and programmes that we have embarked on in the last seven years.
“The ultimate target is to promote economic expansion, technology, arts and culture, social inclusion and economic empowerment for Edo citizens, through sustained investments across various sectors of the economy necessary to drive growth and development. Public Private Partnership (PPP) will continue to dominate our investment initiatives in the New Year,” the governor added.
He stated, “Though resources are not at the optimum and our revenues are severely impacted by prevailing lag in the economy, we will sustain efforts to improve the ease of doing business, consolidate on other key reform programmes and conclude all transactions needed to stimulate economic growth.”
The governor further stated, “Mr. Speaker, as a subnational we have very little say on monetary policy but our aim is to stabilize our macro-economic environment through effective use of limited fiscal policy. This will enable businesses, investors and households to plan and implement production, investment and consumption activities effectively within our state.
“The state’s fiscal policy is envisaged to control and enforce compliance with established spending limits to achieve a sound budgeting system, which includes aggregate fiscal discipline, allocative efficiency and effective spending that can propel Edo State’s economy to be among the top three most developed states in the country by 2050.”
According to him, “The year 2023 has been characterized by political and economic uncertainties, especially with the devaluation of the naira by almost 100 percent and the removal of fuel subsidy which led to a threefold increase in the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).
“These policies have added to the already tough economic and social conditions faced by our citizens, resulting in thousands more slipping into poverty.
“Mr. Speaker and Honourable members, despite these challenges, we continued to keep faith with the mandate of delivering good governance to our people. We continue to focus on improving the welfare of our workers while emphasizing those policies which will help us overcome the current challenges we face.
“We achieved these by ensuring expansion of the economic space, attracting private capital, improving the ease of doing business, upgrading public infrastructure and transitioning to a more responsive and reliable digital work mode.”
On achievements in the outgoing year, the governor said, “In the outgoing year, Edo State Government went fully digital, simplifying work processes and assuring better services for investors and other key stakeholders in government, setting the pace in Nigeria as the first government entity to go full-paperless.
“We are proud to have set this record and are determined to sustain the gains made so far. We expect that with the investment made in building a tier 4 data centre and other interventions, we should be well-positioned to adopt Artificial Intelligence (AI) in governance in the near future.
“Aside from attracting private capital to drive economic activity, the new work mode has improved service-wide efficiency and performance thus ensuring speedy and better service delivery for our citizens.
“These new improvements are reflected in public procurement, revenue collection, land management, project management, basic education, and healthcare delivery, among others. All of these are powered by technology, built on a digital infrastructure spanning over 2000km of fibre optic broadband connectivity that runs across the 18 local government areas of the State.”
He continued, “This investment has implications beyond public service delivery, as it powers the digital economy, providing new opportunities for work and learning for our youths.
“The transformative efforts have resulted in the digitisation of over 9 million government records, training of 6,000 staff and deployment of 10,000 digital devices to workers.
“Majority of the activities of Edo State Government will now take place from six hubs or locations which are the Secretariat Hub with six buildings; the education hub in Iyaro; the Health Hub in the Stella Obasanjo hospital complex; the Agric Hub located in the ADP complex on Airport Road; the Built Environment Hub on Sapele Road and Transport Hub in the Ministry of Works complex. Majority of the offices have been rebuilt, furnished and connected to electricity from the Ossiomo IPP and high-speed fibre optic internet infrastructure.”
On human capital development, Obaseki stated, “We have continued to extend our investment in the basic education sector through the EdoBEST programme, so as to ensure a better, brighter and more fulfilling future for our children.
“Under EdoBESST 2.0 reforms have begun disarticulating JSS from SSS in line with the national policy on Education. The Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is being redesigned to align technical education with the needs of industry and private businesses.
“From the Edo State Polytechnic, Usen to the Edo State University, Uzaurie and the Ambrose Alli University, we have sustained sweeping reforms to improve teaching, upgrade infrastructure and support staff to attract private sector partnerships in institutional building and expansion programmes.
“The Edo State Polytechnic, Usen, recently forged a partnership agreement with Shaanxi Polytechnic in China and Yong Xing Steel company to enhance the quality of technical education. Following the Investment Summit in Fujian Province, China, we have received a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) from another Polytechnic for collaboration.
The Edo State College of Agriculture has also kicked off at the main campus in Iguoriakhi. It provides critical manpower to the state’s fast-growing commercial agriculture sector.”
Reeling gains of efforts in the health sector, the governor said, “Our reform in the healthcare sector in the State is taking firm footing as the backbone of the system, the Edo State Health Insurance Scheme which has now recorded over 200,000 subscribers.
“Upon the disarticulation of the Central Hospital, we are improving facilities across a network of 50 Primary Healthcare Centres in partnership with the private sector. This will be supported by secondary, tertiary, and specialist hospitals, which provide comprehensive healthcare across the three senatorial districts. We have completed the Outpatient Department at the Stella Obasanjo Hospital and installation of world-class equipment has commenced.
“A key priority for our administration is to build the human capital required to drive the healthcare system. We are rebuilding the Edo State College of Health Technology to train the personnel required to man and strengthen our primary healthcare system.
“Indeed, our reforms in the healthcare system are yielding fruit with the incursion of more private players in the space. One of such is the world-class Merry Ehanire Mother and Child Hospital, which is to serve as a centre for medical tourism in the State as it boasts of bespoke facilities to manage a myriad of medical conditions.”
Other areas of impact, according to the governor include public safety and security, Infrastructure, Physical and Urban Planning, and Investments to Spur Economic Revolution, among others.
He further stated, “As we prepare to leave office, there is an imperative to ensure sustainability of the interventions we have undertaken these past years, especially as it relates to our development plans. So, we will soon be approaching the House for legislation to enact laws to guarantee long-term planning efforts.
“Mr. Speaker and distinguished members, we are on a home run and we are determined to finish strong next year. As a result, we are committed to completing the projects we have started and making remarkable progress on our legacy projects.
“We are ready to make the necessary adjustments to attract the right kind of investment and partnerships to build a reliable foundation for Edo’s future. Working together, we are sure of finishing strong and ensuring our people live life to the fullest.”
On efforts to cushion the impact of the federal government’s fuel subsidy removal on the people of Edo State, the governor said, “In mitigating the fallouts of the subsidy removal, we introduced a number of social safety nets, such as the provision of free Wi-Fi connectivity in public spaces to ease work and also provide a platform for youths to participate in the gig economy.
“We also introduced free bus rides in the State through the Edo City Transport Service (ECTS), with an initial two-month pilot phase.
“Over 1.5 million residents benefitted from the first phase of the scheme which covers all intra and intercity routes operated by the State-owned Edo City Transport Services (ECTS),” Obaseki added.
Receiving the 2024 budget proposal, Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Blessing Agbebaku assured the Governor that the legislative arm will continue to work harmoniously with the executive to ensure the socioeconomic growth and development of the State.
Hailing the governor for his developmental strides across all sectors of the State, the Speaker commended the governor for extending the free bus service across the State by three months.
In another development, Governor Obaseki has said his government will partner with the private sector to set up a trust to ensure the sustainability of the Edo State International Film Festival.
Obaseki said this during a meeting with the Edo State Commissioner for Art Culture Tourism and Diaspora Affairs, Uyi Oduwa Malaka and German student-filmmakers, at the Government House in Benin City.
He said, “We have decided to create an ESIFF Trust and all the activities of the event will be transferred to that trust. It will be driven purely by the private sector. We did it with Alaghodaro where we have a trust; they raise their money and have full government support and help the government promote and attract business to Edo State.
“I have mandated that we create a trust manned by those in the creative industry to give direction to this body, which will be responsible for promoting the film festival. We will still give support until the trust can stand on its own and carry out its activities.
“We are ready to work with you in the film academy as this is a natural progression from the film festival. All the facilities will be transferred to the trust; you have the responsibility to raise additional money and make investment.”
Hailing the German Government for the support for his administration, leading to the successes recorded over the past seven years, including in the fight against illegal migration and human trafficking, the governor said, “Our efforts have yielded fruits in the last seven years, especially in the creative industry. We have attracted support and we will soon be exporting people with skills to Europe and other parts of the world.
“We have moved from desperation, created hope and now actualizing the hope with our creative industry, using it as a platform for our youths to showcase their talent and export the same to the world.
“The state has significantly made progress in the creative industry and the German government has supported us in the area of job creation from manufacturing, technology and other areas to encourage our youths to remain here to develop the State and nation.”
He further stated, “We have also got interventions and support in the creative industry to support our youths in the creative business and we are growing tremendously in the industry.
“We started the Edo International Film Festival last year and never knew that we were doing something remarkable that would bring people across the country and outside into the state.
“This second edition has made me know that we have created a marketplace for films where producers and stakeholders in the industry meet. We have created a place and platform where exchange takes place, where people who are selling and distributing products meet young stars, give them products and direction on how to succeed in the Industry.”
According to him, “The Edo International Film Festival has become the premier festival and a marketplace for the exchange of film products in West Africa, producing real content as we are developing real people, skills, and talent to do production across the Country.
“For the assistance and collaboration with the German Government, I want to use this opportunity to thank the German Minister of Culture; she has been an amazing friend to the State and has made the partnership possible as we have a positive impact on the cultural exchange programmes and other collaborations with the German Culture Ministry. These exchange programmes are really remarkable.”
“I hope we can have a mechanism where those trained in these exchange programmes have the responsibility to form a faculty to train other youths in the State and Nigeria to enable us continually have knowledge transfer,” Obaseki charged.
On her part, Uyi Oduwa Malaka said the partnership between the State and Germany has given birth to cultural exchange, adding that “the journey has been the one of a lot of cultural exchange and learning as the German student filmmakers have been in Edo State for 21 days shooting at various locations across the state.”
Also, Mark Szilagyi of the Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg and leader of the delegation, commended the governor for his sustained investment in the creative sector and for supporting young people to realize their full potential.
Obaseki approves date for payment of 13th month salary for Edo workers
Meanwhile, Governor Obaseki has approved the date for the payment of the 13th month salary pledge to workers in the State.
Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare, who disclosed this in a statement, noted that the governor has continued to prioritise the welfare of workers in the State and has continued to live up to his promise for better and improved working conditions.
According to him, “The Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has approved the date for the payment of the 13th month salary to workers. The December salary would be paid on December 11th while the 13th month salary will be paid on December 27th.
“This is in line with the Governor’s unwavering commitment to the welfare of workers in the State, which has been sustained for the past seven years. It is pertinent to state the Governor Obaseki-led administration has kept fate with payment of salaries. In this period, there has not been a default, as workers receive their salary on or before the 26th of every month. Same thing applies with pensioners in the state.
“This is also as there have been regular promotions, with the latest being January 2023. There is a conductive work environment across six hubs in the State and the workers are enrolled in the Contributory Pension Scheme, which ensures they enjoy Life Insurance Benefits among others. Workers have never had it this good in Edo State.”
