The Delta State Governor, Senator Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, and his Edo State counterpart, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, cut short their Sallah holiday yesterday (05/06/19) to brainstorm on how to deepen economic ties and improve on the security situation in the two states.

Goverrnor Obaseki arrived the Government House, Asaba, in Delta State, with members of his executive council at about 1.06 p.m., and was received by Governor Okowa and his team.

The meeting went into a closed-door session, which lasted for about 45 minutes before they were joined by journalists.

Governor Okowa said: “It was a meeting between brothers, friends who are now governors; and more interesting is that our states belonged to the old Bendel. He came with ideas that will move the two states forward.”

While clarifying that it was not the first time the two governors were meeting to discuss in a convivial atmosphere, Governor Okowa asserted: “We want to leverage our strong ties as members of old Bendel State to better the lot of our people.”

Edo State Governor in a brief speech, stated that it was important for the governors of the two states to discuss the issues of common interests, such as economy, security, energy, and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), among others bearing in mind that both states share the longest boundary and their historical background.

According to him, “I am here to congratulate my friend and brother on his victory at the polls and successful inauguration for a second term. We came from the legacy Bendel State; we discussed economic cooperation between our two states.”

“Today, Edo and Delta states could be the main power house of the country, given our energy and agricultural potential. We looked into how to strengthen our economic ties and our participation in Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Edo and Delta (BRACED) Commission,” he said.

“We looked at insecurity in our common borders, especially communal clashes and general insecurity, and we have agreed to ask the Assistant Inspector-Gerneral of Police and the Commissioners of Police to come up with a plan to restore security in our states,” he stated.

He added: “We also agreed to ask for the inauguration of the NDDC advisory committee of governors and also, to work with our colleagues to improve governance in the Commission. We are of the view that based on the resources the Commission receives, there is a need for improvement in project conception, siting and execution because nothing stops the Commission from using 50 per cent of its resources to solve the energy problem of the region.”

“Also, a regional Master Plan is necessary for implementation by the NDDC. We also looked at the area of energy as Delta, Edo, Ondo and Ekiti States are major stakeholders in BEDEC.

“So, we need to be proactive to strenghten BEDEC to provide electricity to our people and restructure the company so as to make it work efficiently for the region,” Mr. Obaseki said.

•Photo by Jibunor Samuel shows Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa (right) and the Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, during the visit of Governor Obaseki, in the Government House, Asaba, Delta State.

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