The Edo State Government has unveiled a new fleet management system, MEGA Connect, to optimize the use of its automobile assets and reduce the cost of governance.
The platform will be fully operational by the end of October.
Addressing the stakeholders at the Fleet Management Workshop, the Head of Service, Anthony Okungbowa Esq., decried the state of abandonment and underutilisation of the government’s fleet.
He said, “State Government-owned vehicles are managed and distributed by the Directorate of Government House and Protocols. They are centrally purchased and deployed based on approved requisition by Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
“There is a need to employ a sustainable strategy for the management of state-owned vehicles to improve their utilization and distribution in order that service delivery might be optimal and the cost of management, operation and maintenance of vehicles reduced to the barest minimum.”
He said Governor Godwin Obaseki has constituted a fleet management committee to ascertain the state of government-owned vehicles and design a fleet management system for the state that revolves around the deployment of technology.
He noted that due to the absence of a central management system, the number of vehicles, losses and damages could not be tracked while the state is incurring more losses in the aspect of expenditure.
Okungbowa added, “The new technology-driven initiative by the governor is proposed to help with the management and maintenance of state-owned vehicles with the view of minimizing cost for the purchase of vehicles, maintenance and fueling.
“The overall goal is to improve on service delivery by ensuring that the automobile resources of the state are put to optimal use and are available to all for the performance of day-to-day schedule.”
Special Adviser to the Governor on Strategy, Policy, Planning and Project Management, Sarah Esangbedo Ajose-Adeogun, said, “the fleet management system will use technology to manage the vehicular assets, ascertain where they are and what they are being used for. It will also help in reducing fueling cost, fleet optimization, asset tracking, lower vehicle maintenance cost, improve planning and extend asset life as well as positive driver orientation.”
