Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State yesterday said the state had created not less than 50,000 jobs in the last seven years through the State Employment and Expenditure for Results (SEEFOR).
He stated this at a one-day workshop in Benin, organised by Edo SEEFOR with the theme: “Sustainability of Social Accountability in Public Sector.”
Obaseki, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Mr Taiwo Akerele, said the state executive council, last year, approved N6 billion to complement the activities of SEEFOR in the state.
He said the approval was because the financing of SEEFOR project from World Bank was gradually winding down.
“We are not going to say because World Bank is no longer giving us money we will not fund SEEFOR,” the governor said.
According to him, the state government has taken over from where SEEFOR stopped, to close the funding gap.
“With the support of SEEFOR, we have been able to pass the Public Financial Management Law, the Auditing Law and others,” Obaseki added.
The governor said that the state was the first in the country to publish contracts of above N10 million in its official website for public scrutiny and accountability in government.
He commended the Federal Government for making Edo to benefit from the European Union component of SEEFOR which complemented the World Bank-assisted funding for employment of young people in the state.
In his presentation, the Dean, Faculty of Arts, University of Benin, Prof. Eddy Eragbe, charged the citizens to monitor and query projects embarked upon by the three tiers of government.
Earlier in his opening remarks, the Project Coordinator, Edo SEEFOR, Mr Toju Onaiwu, said the workshop was to further enhance public knowledge and accountability in government.