Deji Elumoye in Abuja
Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, of has asked ward and local government councils in the state to nominate members of his cabinet more than six months after his inauguration for a second term in office.
The governor, who spoke with newsmen yesterday after meeting with the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari at the State House, Abuja explained that putting his cabinet in place was delayed due to the restructuring of the state civil service to make it more efficient.
He said having restructured the civil service and introduced technology, the state is now ready for the political class to give the needed political direction to the administration.
Obaseki said: “We spent the last six months trying to restructure the process of government, particularly the civil service, because no matter how great a cabinet is, if the government and the functions of government are not operating properly, the executive cannot function optimally.
“So, the last six months, we’ve tried to redefine the structures of governance, working through every layer of the civil service, define the roles, the responsibilities, trying to understand the resources available, and put in place key performance indicators and scorecards for every MDA in government”.
On the timeframe for the nomination of the commissioners, the governor said: “I have mandated wards, local governments to give me nominations. The nominations are coming in from the wards and the local governments. And the selection team is being put place to screen these candidates for submission to maybe before passing to the state House of Assembly.”
The governor revealed that he met with Professor Gambari over stolen Benin artefacts that are to be returned from abroad, saying the state government in collaboration with partners are setting up a museum for them in the state.
He expressed the hope that when completed, the museum would be a tourist attraction and source of revenue for the state.
“I’m sure you know that we’ve been in conversations with the federal government on the artefacts. Lots of Benin artworks that are in Europe and the Americas”.
On how ready the state is to receive the artefacts, he explained: “As I said, a lot of work has been done. We have the legacy restoration trust, which is currently obtaining resources from very, very interested donors across the world.
“We expect that by the last quarter of this year working with the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, we should begin the construction of a pavilion, a world-class pavilion that will meet all the conditions required by which this works can be kept. And as you know, many of them are very fragile and very old, but they have to be kept protective conditions.”
