Gov. Obaseki of Edo State

Jethro Ibileke/Benin

Determined to promote transparency in governance and cut waste, Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State said his administration would adopt automated system of government through the use of technology.
He made the disclosure Friday ‎at the flag-off of the State Integrated Financial Management Information System, a World Bank Assisted initiative in collaboration with the State Employment and Expenditure for Result in Benin.

The Governor who commended his predecessor, Adams Oshiomhole, for introducing technology towards ensuring that government funds were judiciously used, explained that SIFIMS would launch Edo into a new era, considering the place of the civil service as the engine room of government.
He noted that with the e-governance system, his administration would focus on how the state government received and spent money, by automating the processes in the civil service.
While regretting that the state budgeting system had not lived up to expectation in the past, Obaseki however expressed hope that the new financial management system would be implemented before the end of the first quarter of 2017.
‎According to him, the method of procurement had been a challenge to government due to discrepancies in th prices oif items supplied‎, even as he noted that government must be able to manage its limited resources with the new system.
The Governor who urged civil servants in the state to embrace e-governance, disclosed that plans had been concluded to deploy 1,000 Internet-enabled computers ‎to the MDAs to boost productivity.
Earlier in his speech, a Consultant on the project, Mr. Solomon Asapokhai, explained that ‎SIFIMS focused on the business process, key stakeholders in the public service and technology, as its core areas.
He also noted that the use of the Oracle business suite (R12.1.3), a technological application system, was an ideal tool for budgetary control, as it only permitted monthly and quarterly spending for recurrent and capital budgets, respectively.