by Nurat Uthman
Edo State Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, has said his government does not have control over the e-governance platform and has ordered an immediate review.
The order was contained in a “Government Special Announcement,” signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Umar Ikhilor.
In the statement made available to journalists on Tuesday, the SSG said the review became necessary following a discovery that the entire e-governance platform is being run and operated from the backend by unknown non-state actors, and no one within the entire Public Service of Edo State has administrative control of the platform.
The statement read, “The attention of the Edo State Government has been drawn to a report making the rounds that the Senator Monday Okpebholo-led administration has shut down the e-governance platform initiated by the previous administration. Nothing could be further from the truth.
“While all officials and staff of ministries, departments and agencies are to continue to work on the e-governance platform, pending the outcome of the review, this statement is to also dismiss as untrue, some reports in a section of the social media that the state government has shut down the platform.
“It has, however, been observed that the entire e-governance platform of Edo State Government is being run and operated from the backend by unknown non-state actors and no one within the entire public service of Edo State has administrative control of the platform.
“This is considered a serious data security threat as it has placed the entire governance structure of the state at the mercy of non-state actors or so-called consultants. This, therefore, calls for an urgent need to review the process.
“In the light of the foregoing and in order to remedy this clear and present danger, Governor Okpebholo has ordered the immediate review of the entire e-governance platform with a view to enabling the Edo State government to gain total administrative control of the platform and restoring institutional memory of government which the current platform lacks.
“While the review is ongoing, all officials and staff of Ministries, Departments and Agencies are to continue to work on the e-governance platform pending the outcome of ongoing review.”
