Transitional chairman of Oredo Local Government in Edo State, Ekpen Erediauwa has said, just as he accused some government officials of serving their own interest, a situation he described as antithetical to development.

"The ugly development only recently crept into Edo State in its 20 years of existence," disclosed Mr.Erediauwa to newsmen in Benin City.

According to him, a large number of public officials, including those at local government level act in their official capacity to the detriment of the people.

Speaking against the background of challenges of revenue mobilisation in his council, he said that his administration was putting in place a data bank for the enumeration of taxable people within the local government area.

"The challenges of revenue constitute a lot of problem not only at our level but also at other levels of government administration. In the last six month for example, we have had unremitted tax due to the Federal Government but which was left unpaid by past administrations in Edo, deducted at source from our accounts.

"Other related issues include the non-remittance of revenue by people.

A lot of our people are serving themselves, which in my opinion does not help the overall interest. And, we have embarked on some innovations to address some of the problems. We are working on creating a data base, so that taxes can be paid through the banks.

"We are working in conjunction with others, training our personnel, so that when they go around, they can digitally confirm who has paid his or her tax or those that have failed to do so. This we are doing with a lot of diplomacy, because those that are benefiting from the porous system will challenge it."

Commenting on Edo State at 20, and whether or not the state has achieved its potentials since its creation, the council boss opined that expectation has been very high. He however observed that "only in the last two years can one say development has come our way since the creation of Edo. Without mincing words, is the administration of the Comrade Governor that has brought development to the state since its creation.

"What we have achieved in 20 years is short of expectation, considering our human capacity. Edo has far more enlightened people that several other states but we have not be able to translate this for our benefit," he noted.