The Deputy Speaker of Edo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. (Mrs) Maria Omozele Oligbi-Edeko, has sued for collaboration with the Rule of Law and Anti-corruption project (ROLAC), a European Union-led organization.
Edeko made the appeal on Wednesday when members of ROLAC led by Emmanuel Uche, its Programme Manager, paid a courtesy visit on the deputy speaker in Benin City.
ROLAC is a non-governmental organization committed to enthroning and sustaining development through the instrumentality of integrity, transparency and accountability in governance.
The organization also initiates and replicates reforms required for development in all states where it operates.
Speaking during the visit, Edeko commended ROLAC for bringing innovations and transformations to both the civil and public service spaces which have led to the development of policies meant to drive governance in the state
“if you come to the executive, judiciary, ministries and MDAs, there has been a lot of transformation. They have trained and retrained civil servants in the state on e-governance and developed most of the policies in the state that are working for us today,” Edeko said.
“So I am very glad ROLAC phase one has come to an end and Edo is on board for the phase two of the project.
“When we won election, I reached out to my friends in the developmental world and Uche was one of the persons I troubled so much on the need to come and help us at the legislative arm of government with the reforms they have carried out in the executive arm.
“In actual fact, it is the legislative arm that should have benefitted the most because we deal with laws reforming our processes and also because this is one arm that is closest to our people. This is the arm of government that will sustain all what has been achieved under the Gov. Godwin Obaseki-led administration by providing legal framework to every policy made because governance is about the people.
“We cannot sit down and be left behind in terms of reforms. We have a vibrant 8th Assembly who need to be well informed about these achievements because if they are not well informed, how can they think of sustaining them?
“I wish ROLAC was domiciled in this state House of Assembly for the second phase. We have lot that can be done in the house,” she said.
The deputy speaker appealed to the ROLAC project team to consider the Edo State House of Assembly under phase two of its project by bringing in the model of training and reforms for members and staff of the assembly.
She said, “I just came from a training for women legislators, it was mainly on mainstreaming vulnerability into our budget process because the people we represent are vulnerable persons, women, children and persons with disabilities in our community.
“Inviting few of us to participate in such a training will achieve little or nothing because we do not have the power but if you bring that training to Edo State House of Assembly to train our people, they will have more understanding, such that when budget comes, we know what to look out for to ensure that the very needy people are taken care of.”
She solicited the support and cooperation of ROLAC project under its second phase to enlighten people at the various community levels about the provisions of some of the laws passed.
“They both have to know what VAP law means, the disability law and the Child Rights law following its amendment and passage,” she said.
Earlier in his opening remarks, Mr. Emmanuel Uche, ROLAC programme manager, noted that the organization was committed to strengthening the foundation for transparency, integrity and accountability in the country for sustainable democratic development.
Uche said that the organization had recorded a lot of success in its reform efforts in the civil and public service sector in collaboration with the executive arm of government.
He further stated that Edo State within two years of its inclusion in ROLAC phase one project under the 5-year lifespan of the project following appeals by the state government, achieved mind-blowing results from the amount of works and reforms undertaken within the period.
“Edo came in two years behind but by the end of the 5-year of ROLAC, the amount of work and reforms that started in Edo State was mind-blowing and European Union was impressed.
“Under ROLAC phase two, EU said that there was no point changing the winning team and there is no point changing the reforming state. ROLAC phase two is here to consolidate on the gains achieved under ROLAC phase one and to explore opportunities to deepen the results that are ahead of us to be achieved,” he said.
