Information Commissioner Faults Use of 2026 PSPI to Assess Okpebholo Administration
By Maureen Nwine
The Edo State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Prince Kassim Afegbua has challenged attempts to use the 2026 Phillips Consulting States Performance Index (pSPI) as a definitive measure of the performance of the administration of Governor Monday Okpebholo, arguing that the assessment largely reflects conditions inherited from previous administrations.
The Commissioner stated that while the government welcomed independent assessments of governance, such reports must be interpreted within their methodology and assessment periods.
According to him, Governor Okpebholo assumed office on November 12, 2024, when most of the period covered by the 2026 assessment had already elapsed. He therefore argued that several indicators used in the ranking, including internally generated revenue, debt sustainability, fiscal management, audited accounts and institutional performance, were outcomes of policies and decisions made before the present administration.
Afegbua said it was therefore misleading to attribute such historical outcomes entirely to an administration that had only recently assumed office during the period under review.
He noted that the Okpebholo administration had since its inauguration introduced a number of interventions aimed at changing the state’s development trajectory. These include strengthening revenue administration, constructing and rehabilitating roads, regularising over 5,000 teachers, renovating more than 80 public schools and upgrading over 70 primary healthcare centres.
Other interventions, he said, include the recruitment of additional health personnel, deployment of about 2,500 Security Corps personnel and 500 Forest Guards, as well as ongoing urban renewal, market reconstruction, public service reforms and youth development initiatives.
The commissioner said future editions of the performance index would provide a more accurate assessment of the administration, as they would increasingly reflect policies and programmes initiated and implemented under Governor Okpebholo.
“Governance should be judged not merely by inherited circumstances but by the vision, leadership and measurable progress achieved in transforming them,” Afegbua said.
He reaffirmed the state government’s openness to independent assessments, while urging analysts and the public to consider the chronology and methodology of such assessments when evaluating government performance.
The Edo State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Prince Kassim Afegbua has challenged attempts to use the 2026 Phillips Consulting States Performance Index (pSPI) as a definitive measure of the performance of the administration of Governor Monday Okpebholo, arguing that the assessment largely reflects conditions inherited from previous administrations.
The Commissioner stated that while the government welcomed independent assessments of governance, such reports must be interpreted within their methodology and assessment periods.
According to him, Governor Okpebholo assumed office on November 12, 2024, when most of the period covered by the 2026 assessment had already elapsed. He therefore argued that several indicators used in the ranking, including internally generated revenue, debt sustainability, fiscal management, audited accounts and institutional performance, were outcomes of policies and decisions made before the present administration.
Afegbua said it was therefore misleading to attribute such historical outcomes entirely to an administration that had only recently assumed office during the period under review.
He noted that the Okpebholo administration had since its inauguration introduced a number of interventions aimed at changing the state’s development trajectory. These include strengthening revenue administration, constructing and rehabilitating roads, regularising over 5,000 teachers, renovating more than 80 public schools and upgrading over 70 primary healthcare centres.
Other interventions, he said, include the recruitment of additional health personnel, deployment of about 2,500 Security Corps personnel and 500 Forest Guards, as well as ongoing urban renewal, market reconstruction, public service reforms and youth development initiatives.
The commissioner said future editions of the performance index would provide a more accurate assessment of the administration, as they would increasingly reflect policies and programmes initiated and implemented under Governor Okpebholo.
“Governance should be judged not merely by inherited circumstances but by the vision, leadership and measurable progress achieved in transforming them,” Afegbua said.
He reaffirmed the state government’s openness to independent assessments, while urging analysts and the public to consider the chronology and methodology of such assessments when evaluating government performance.
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