By Naomi Omorowa
The Edo State Government has sought the assistance of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) as it consolidates efforts to set up a similar agency in the State.
According to the Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Joseph Eboigbe, the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration is committed to the quick formation of the Bureau, which he said would ease access to data and serve as an indispensable tool for good governance.
Eboigbe said this when the State government hosted the NBS team in Benin City.
Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary in the Edo state Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Mr. Efe Iserhienrhien solicited the assistance of NBS in strengthening the Department of Statistics in his Ministry to attain the status of Edo State Bureau of Statistics, which would be responsible for collection, collation, analyses and custodian of a centralised data system in the State.
The NBS Team Lead, Mrs. Anne Ibrahim, maintained that the Bureau of Statistics is a warehouse for information (data) for all sectors, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in countries and are a Centralised Information System (CIS) for archiving and coordinating the statistical systems in such countries.
Mrs. Ibrahim assured that her team was in the State to carry out a need assessment to ascertain the capacity of the Department of Statistics in the State Ministry of Budget and Planning and recommend what should be put in place for the establishment of a sub-national Bureau of Statistics especially with regards to structure, human capital, space, ICT, infrastructure, amongst others in Edo State
Mr. Iserhienrhien further said that Governor Obaseki was fully behind the formation of the Edo State Bureau of Statistics, and pledges to fully implement all recommendations that will emanate from the NBS’s need assessment.
He added that the State government places a high premium on data collection, collation, coding, programming and analyses to maximally achieve its MEGA vision for the State.
The Director of Statistics in the ministry, Mr. David Obanubi, explained the strategic role of the proposed agency in carrying out surveys, calculating the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), computing consumer price index, MDAs data, amongst others.
