Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has forwarded the Freedom of Information Bill to the House of Assembly for passage into Law to ensure the entrenchment of probity, accountability and transparency in governance in the state.

The governor also declared his intention to construct a ring road in Ado-Ekiti and change the face of the state capital to make it a city that befits its status as the seat of government, describing the present condition of Ado-Ekiti as an “eyesore”.

Fayemi who disclosed this yesterday on the Broadcasting Service of Ekiti State, BSES, to mark  his 100 days in office also promised to use agriculture and solid mineral to boost the economic profile of the state.

The state-owned media outfit which went off air since September last year has undergone restructuring, re-engineering, repackaged and equipped with modern broadcasting equipment by the Fayemi-led administration in time for the marking of 100 days in office.

While noting that his administration was open to public scrutiny on how government was run and how public funds were spent, Fayemi disclosed that he had sent a bill on Freedom of Information for consideration for passage into Law.

The governor noted that Ekiti would be the second state in Nigeria after Lagos to forward such a bill to the legislature expressing confidence that such a step would help engender good governance and make government accountable to the populace.

Speaking on infrastructural development, Fayemi said one of the key challenges he met on ground was that the ousted Segun Oni-led regime awarded several road contracts with only very few completed.

This, he added, prompted his administration to set up a Contract Review Committee to look into all contracts awarded promising that he would not revoke any contract awarded by the deposed government but had encouraged contractors to go back to site and get the jobs completed.

He pledged that his government would make all parts of the state accessible by roads through the completion of all ongoing roads projects stressing that no new road contracts would be awarded until all the ongoing ones are completed.

Describing Ekiti as a state blessed with enormous mineral and agricultural resources, Fayemi said his government would tap into the sectors to boost the industrial profile of the state and provide gainful employments to its teeming youths.

The governor charged jobless Ekiti youths who are holders of National Diploma, Higher National Diploma and Bachelor’s degrees to go to their local governments and register their names in anticipation of job openings in some key sectors in the state.

He promised that farmers in the state would be empowered to turn them from subsistent farmers to commercial farmers while plans are on to link the proposed Ado-Ekiti Airport to a cargo processing facility to market farm produce in the state.

Fayemi also unveiled that work is going on to establish a Minerals Development Agency in the state to develop untapped minerals in the state and provide job opportunities for more people.

While noting that a lot of illegal mining are going on in areas rich in solid minerals in the state, Fayemi said the establishment of a Minerals Development Agency would help the state get what is due to it in the solid mineral sub-sector.

Expressing dismay with the high failure rate of students taking public examinations in the state, Fayemi disclosed that his administration is planning to return all mission schools in the state back to their owners.

He noted that his administration inaugurated an Education Task Force to proffer recommendations capable of rescuing education in the state to consolidate on the free primary and secondary education being run in the Fountain of Knowledge.

Fayemi also used the forum to correct an erroneous impression that he is not ready to pay the proposed new minimum wage saying he would have no option than to pay the new wage if it is the decision of the whole country.

To show that he is worker-friendly, the governor said his administration recently paid the new consolidated salary structure for medical workers, paid N700 million gratuities to pensioners and restored car and housing loans cancelled by the deposed government.