Godwin Obaseki, the departing governor of Edo State, has congratulated himself, claiming that the state’s economy increased from N10 billion to over N25 billion during his leadership.
As his eight-year tenure in Edo State came to a conclusion, Obaseki revealed this in his farewell statewide broadcast.
In the broadcast, Obaseki claimed that the manufacturing, oil and gas, and agriculture sectors all saw growth in the state’s economy.
By December of this year, he noted, the state’s internally generated income (IGR) would reach a height of N85 billion.
“When I took office, our economy was worth 10 billion, but now it is worth over 25 billion,” he remarked. By December of this year, our internally generated revenue (IGR) will have reached a peak of 85 billion.
“We initiated a revolution in Edo State agriculture by allocating more than 120,000 hectares of land for the development of oil palm estates under the Edo State Oil Palm program. Of this land, about 40,000 hectares have been farmed.
“With this and the progress we’ve made in growing cassava as a feedstock for Edo State’s two ethanol plants.”
As the leading producer of cassava and palm oil in Nigeria, we have a bright future. As a state that produces gas and oil, we have also made use of our resources to rise to the top of the petrochemical industry.
The Edo Refinery and Petrochemical Company, which runs a 6000 barrel per day refinery, and the DuPont Energy Park, which runs an integrated energy facility that includes a 5000 barrel per day modular refinery, are two modular refineries that we have drawn in.
“Billions of dollars have been invested in the production of goods including cement, iron and steel, glass, ceramics, tiles, and wood, in addition to hydrocarbon investments.
All of these are outcomes of the preparations we made to boost economic activity by drawing capital into the different areas of the state’s economy.
“In the fields of manufacturing, retail, real estate, agriculture, energy, and technology.” Due to the investments we have drawn, our state has become a haven of optimism.
The departing governor added that his administration had made considerable infrastructural improvements in Edo State over the previous eight years.
According to him, the administration built more than 850 kilometres of state highways in all of the state’s local governments.
“The state currently produces over 1000MW of electricity per day. Additionally, we now have an electrical market thanks to our new electricity law, which will draw additional investment to the digital infrastructure space.
“With a network of nearly 2500 kilometres of fibre optic cables throughout the state, Edo State leads in Nigeria,” he continued.
He observed that he was leaving behind something “which I wasn’t fortunate to inherit” as his administration came to a close. Additionally, this plan will act as a compass for the future.
“There is enough evidence to demonstrate the outstanding progress we have accomplished by cooperating with everyone who genuinely cares about our state and nation as I near the end of my term in office and look back on the trip over the past eight years.
“We have proven that our state’s situation can be altered.”
