16th July, 2020
By Igbaugba Ehigimetor
Mr. Stevie Ozono, the candidate of National Rescue Movement (NRM) for the Sept. 19 Edo governorship polls, said the present state of development in Edo does not depict its status as an oil producing state.
Ozono said his mission was to make the state a model of good governance for other states in Nigeria.
This statement is contained in his manifesto made available to newsmen in Benin on Thursday.
While noting that Edo contributes about 2.06 per cent of the total crude oil output in the country he, however, said the state has not been able to utilise the Federal allocation and internally generated revenues well.
According to him, “In 2019 alone, our state received from the federal account allocation a total sum of N66.5bn.
“However, it is becoming very difficult to align the state’s development to her status as an oil producing state.
Ozono, who said that the drive of his government would be people-friendly, stressed that he would reduce the debt burden of the state significantly by running a cost-efficient cabinet.
He promised to reduce “security vote and needless allowances of the executive arm of government” if he gets elected.
Ozono also decried the unemployment rate in the state, saying his administration would change the narrative.
According to him, “We are not comfortable with the 25.1 per cent unemployment rate (1,250,000 people) and 18.4 per cent underemployment rate (900,000 people) of the state.