Obaseki bags Digital Governor of the Year Award, as FG celebrates gov’s public sector automation reforms
Kingsley Ohens reporting
The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has been recognized as the Digital Governor of the Year (Public Sector Automation) by the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR).
Governor Obaseki will be decorated with the award during the Nigeria GovTech Public Service Awards 2024 scheduled for October 10 and 11, 2024, in Abuja.
The Federal Government institution under the Presidency set up the BPSR to drive change in Nigeria’s Public Service.
The BPSR said Obaseki has been leading the charge as his reforms in public sector over the past eight years in Edo State have been exceptional and worthy of celebration.
The Edo State Government under the leadership of Governor Godwin Obaseki-led over the past eight years implemented bold and transformative reforms in the State’s civil and public service to make the service more nimble, responsive and technologically driven.
Today, the State has transitioned from an archaic, analogue and strenuous mode of operations to a digitised, seamless and efficient mode, ensuring better service delivery to the people of the State.
According to the BPSR, Obaseki’s recognition followed a nationwide nomination and online voting process conducted among various media platforms.
All thanks to Governor Obaseki, Edo State is today the most connected digitally in Nigeria and operates the most digitised civil and public service, with all local governments connected to fibre optics.
Edo is also the first State in the country to have entirely shifted to a digital mode of administration. Files are now processed through the service-wide e-government platform, ensuring quick turnaround time.
In addition to the public sector automation, the governor has ensured an improved work environment for workers in the State, which boasts of perhaps the most modern Secretariat complex in the country, is now supported by an e-government protocol, which ensures that government processes are processed digitally, enabling a paper-less work culture.
Civil servants in the Edo are the highest-paid in the country, even as the adoption of the Contributory Pension Scheme has ensured a dignified post-service life.
The reforms are also supported by the John Odigie Oyegun Public Service Academy, which ensures year-long in-service training for civil and public servants, to update their skills to meet with current realities.
