REGINALD Bayoko, Head of Delta State Civil Service (HOS), has charged the 51,000 workers of the state public service to redouble their efforts and increase their productivity to justify the payment of the New National Minimum Wage promised by the state government.

News Agency of Nigeria, (NAN) recalls that Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa had pledged his administration’s resolve to pay the N30,000 minimum wage as approved by the Federal Government.

Addressing a news conference on Friday in Asaba, Bayoko said that civil servants should reciprocate the gesture by rededicating themselves to effective and efficient service delivery to improve productivity.

He disclosed that following the state adopted workers verification exercise, the current workforce of the state civil service was in the region of 51,000.

“The state civil service workforce stands in the region of 51,000 being the final outcome of the state verification exercise which took place in the first tenure of this government.

“On minimum wage, the civil servants need to rededicate themselves to the core ideals of public service which are selflessness and wholesome devotion to duty.

“They must come to work at the right time, execute their duties efficiently and effectively which will at the end increase productivity and improve service delivery,” he said.

The HoS said that although the workers verification exercise was over all new entrants into the state civil service would undergo biometrics registration exercise.

According to him, workers verification process has enabled the state government determine its true workforce and identified its valid workers.

“There is not going to be a repeat of the exercise, but what will happen going forward is that new employees of the government will be required to undergo biometric registration and not verification.

“The verification exercise has helped to put things in their proper perspectives, straightened all irregularities and fished out redundant and ghost workers in the state public service,” he said.

Bayoko said the state government had adopted the resolutions reached on the BSc./HND parity, adding that state government would implement as resolved.

He further disclosed that the committee assigned to review the report on those whose appointments were terminated in 2015 in the first tenure of the Gov. Okowa’s administration had submitted the report to his office.

“I just finished reviewing the report of the committee set up to screen the exercise and I am finalising the report for submission to the governor, which am sure will be given required attention,” he said.

He, however, debunked the rumour making the rounds that the last 1,000 science teachers’ recruitment exercise in the state was shared as slots to government official and their cohorts.

According to Bayoko, the rumour is part of the people’s deep rooted mindset, although they are seeing the reality but they are thinking otherwise.

“The employment was computerised and applications done online and there was a computer based test which automatically produces the result from the interviews, so, those who passed know their fate instantly.

“The exercise gave no room for slot sharing, even me, I have no slot and the governor could not interject the process, there was no slot sharing in the recently conducted teachers recruitment exercise in the state.”

He said that discipline remained the hallmark of the state civil service while lauding
the State Civil Service Commission (SCSC) for its role in ensuring a disciplined state public service.

He said that quite a number of workers were punished for various offenses, adding that the SCSC had been very strict in enforcing discipline for lateness, negligence of duty, fraud and gross misconduct.

He said that although the challenges in the public service could not be addressed overnight,  the various reforms in the system had provided platform for civil servant to become effective in the delivery of services.

“The Public service plays a strategic role in the programmes and policies of any administration.

“This present administration under the leadership of Sen. Ifeanyi Okowa, has provided the platform for the civil servants to deliver and become productive.

“So, the reforms in the system provide opportunities for the state civil servants to do what is expected of them and that is to deliver service efficiently and effectively.

BE

– June 20, 2019 @ 17:55 GMT |