Oyo- Friday, 9th April 2021: Oyo State Governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde, has disclosed that the state is able to have ‘massive savings’ by blocking loopholes in his government.

The Governor added that the introduction of e-governance in the state has also helped the government to embark on the major projects  and development in the state.

Makinde made this known during his address on the theme: ‘Achieving Sustainable Leadership Through E-government in the 4th Industrial Revolution," at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria’s (ICAN) 50th Annual Accountants Conference in Abuja.

 According to a statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, the governor noted that for a country to experience sustainable development and not to be left behind in the fourth industrial revolution, it needs focused leadership, which will be able to harness its potential to "pick up and catch up with the rest of the world."

He stated that when it was realized that the state has limited resources for all that needed to be done, and that there were many loopholes through which resources were siphoned, the administration quickly took action to block leakages by creating an E-governance Plan.

Makinde explained that the plan entailed digitising all government processes and services in order to raise the coverage and quality of information and services that are provided to the general public, adding that this has, however, made a lot of people to misunderstand that period of laying a solid foundation for development, and tag him an ‘audio governor’.

The governor further stressed that the introduction of the e-governance initiatives across different sectors which include budgeting, contracting, public procurement, job recruitment, land and housing, among others, has now paid off for the state, as, according to him, apart from saving huge resources which are now being channeled to development, it has also made governance more efficient.

"You may wonder, what has been the result of our installing e-governance processes? In what way has e-governance benefited the people of Oyo State? Massive savings. Let me share one example. When we came in, we got consultants to look into the processes in our tertiary institutions and make things more transparent. We created a database of all staff and did identity management for them.

"We also put the prices of all items that a university needs for day to day running in a database. And so, when a requisition is made, the price has to tally with that in the database. In just one school, The Polytechnic Ibadan, we got a savings of 1 Billion Naira by following this process.

"When people ask, where is the Oyo State government getting money to pay salaries when other states are struggling to pay percentages? Is he borrowing money to fund recurrent expenditure? The answer lies in openness and transparency with which we have approached leadership and governance, especially with the use of technology.

"I have heard people say that Oyo State has been turned into a massive construction site. We are building a state that everyone should be proud of. And technology is playing a huge role in our work. "We know that the foundation is very important. When the pioneers of the first industrial revolution started work in the 1750s, they could not have imagined how their work would be built on. 270 years down the line we are talking about a fourth revolution. This is what focused governance entails. Looking beyond one';s tenure in government.

"What I have learnt so far in Oyo State is that e-governance is possible. The transparency and openness it offers is desirable. But there are challenges. Aside from the initial cost of building the infrastructure which might appear restrictive if a leader is not looking at the bigger picture, there is also the loss of political capital that comes with it. And I must say, the latter is a bigger reason why governance in Nigeria has remained in an analogue state.

"Recently, Oyo State has been in the news. The perception that has been created in some circles is that the state is insecure. Some people have even gone to town with claims of cannibalism. But when you dig deeper, you will find that sponsors of these messages are people who no longer have access to the state’s coffers. They are people who believe that it will be business as usual. These days you see them gathering to talk about how their political age confers on them some superior level of thinking or how they will be taking over in 2023," he stated.

The Executive Governor of Oyo State advised individuals planning to make changes in governance should be ready to embrace transparency and openness.

"So, for any of you here thinking of making changes in governance in the next few years, you must think in terms of bringing the transparency and accountability that digitisation and setting up processes have given to the private sector into the public sector.

"This is how Nigeria can really benefit and become a leading voice in this fourth industrial revolution," he said.