Okowa, Obaseki brainstorm on deepening economic ties

By Nosa Akenzua, Asaba

Delta state Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa and his Edo state counterpart, Godwin Obaseki cut short their sallah holiday on Wednesday to brainstorm on how to deepen economic ties and improve on the security situation in the two states

Gov. Obaseki arrived Government House, Asaba with members of his executive council at about 1.06 pm and was received by Gov. Okowa and his team. The meeting went into a closed door session and lasted for about 45 minutes before they were joined by journalists.

Okowa informed inquisitive reporters that “it was a meeting between brothers and friends who are now governors and more interesting is that, our states belonged to the old Bendel and 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, he asserted further that “we want to leverage on our strong ties as members of old Bendel state to better the lots of our people.”

The Edo state governor in a brief speech, stated that it was important for the governors of the two states to discuss issues of common interests such as the economy, security, energy and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), among others bearing in mind that both states share the longest boundary coupled with their historical background.
He stated that “I am here to congratulate my friend and brother for 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 giving our energy and agricultural potentials. We looked into how to strengthen our economic ties and our participation in Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross Rivers, Edo and Delta (BRACED) Commission.

“We looked at insecurity in our common borders, especially, communal clashes and general insecurity and we have agreed to ask the assistant inspector-general of police and the commissioners of police to come up with a plan to restore security in our states.

“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 need for improvement in project conception, citing and execution because nothing stops the commission from using 50 per cent of its resources to solve the energy problem of the region.”