Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has said the fire that gutted a building at the state ministry of Education might not be unconnected with on-going investigation into mismanagement of teachers’ salaries especially at the primary schools level.
The building contained archival documents, examination master list and reference materials dating back to the 1950s when Edo was part of the old Western region.
All the materials were destroyed in the fire that started at about 5am.
Oshiomhole said he suspected that it was part of the investigation that made some people burn down the archives at the Ministry of Education.
He said his administration has set up an investigative panel in each of the 18 local government areas of the state to take audit schools, number of teachers in the schools, their qualifications and the total salaries and allowances paid to them.
The governor spoke when he played host to the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE).
He said, “What we have been trying to do here is to try to find the courage to clean up the mess we inherited in Edo State and to see that we leave behind not just roads, schools, street lights and a school system that works but also institutionalised paperless government so that the level of manipulation can be minimised if not completely eradicated.
“If there is one matter that has engaged my time and those of my lieutenants in government, it is trying to see through what is going on with regards to teachers salaries. Because the problem has been there for a very long time, those involve in it are so deeply entrenched in it,” he added.
The state president of NULGE, Comrade Young Ilemikhene, said it was necessary to recognize and respect the local government’s operational procedures in line with the existing laws as to enable it perform its constitutionally assigned roles.
