By DADA AYOKHAI
The Edo state governor Mr Godwin Obaseki, has accused the Permanent Secretaries in the state of using memos as a means to siphon money from government coffers.
According to the governor, who was furious said most of the memos from the Permanent Secretaries in the absence of commissioners has been on how to spend money on activities.
Obaseki gave the charge during a one-day onboarding programme for the newly inaugurated Commissioners with the theme, “Finishing Strong,” held at the John Odigie Oyegun Public Service Academy (JOOPSA), in Benin City.
Expressing disappointment with the performance of some Permanent Secretaries in the past few weeks, the governor noted, “Let me tell my Permanent Secretaries, I am going to be hard on you because I watched with a keen interest in the last four to five weeks when we didn’t have commissioners and read most of your memos. Memos from four or five Ministries were particularly bad. About 80 per cent of the memos were just about how to spend money on activities.”
Obaseki continued: “The memos have nothing to do about policy but on how to spend money here and there. We are going to have conversations, and I will show you because I kept records; the good thing is that I read. I see why it will cause problems between you and your Commissioners.
“If we must finish strong, we will not have weak Permanent Secretaries but strong ones, with technology for optimal service delivery to the people.
“I welcome you and assure you that in the next 18 months, we are going to have fun and enjoy ourselves while we work together and continue in our developmental strides. We are going to be explaining to our people what we have done and why we have done them and how the future will look as we must sell hope to Edo people.”
The governor further charged the Commissioners, “If you don’t deliver services to Edo people, they will not come out to vote again as it’s difficult to rig now. Don’t worry about the politics but about the work, letting the people know our achievements for the past six years.”
