Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki on Thursday said from March 1, 2023, the state government will totally prohibit the use of cash in government offices across the state.
Obaseki disclosed this during a Code of Ethics engagement with senior management staff of the Edo State civil/public service, as part of the state government’s transformation enhancement programme (Edo STEP), held at Government House, in Benin City.
He said, “I have issued a circular that effective March 1st, government offices will be prohibited from using cash. The government is pushing toward a cashless economy. So, why must the service dodge transparency? We should be able to explain every amount we spend and how we earned it.”
Obaseki urged civil and public servants in the state to shun corruption and adhere to code of ethics in the discharge of their duties.
“We believe in the civil and public service as without you, we cannot have a functioning government. That is why we have, in the last six years, made your welfare a priority. We pay salaries and pensions on the 26th of each month. We have refurbished your work environment for optimal service delivery. Today, our civil and public servants are the most technology compliant in the country.
“We are deploying resources to make sure that before October this year, every local government is connected via fiber optic,” the governor noted.
“We have a crisis in our hands where we are trying to change and improve things for you. Most of you want that but there are still a lot of people who still behave the way they used to behave in the past.
“If we struggle every month to make sure you get your salary on time, why must you now feel that focusing on other areas, trying to make money from other areas illegitimately, is what we should still be doing by this time?”