Imo government embarks on reforms to improve civil service

Imo government embarks on reforms to improve civil service

Reform
By Ugonne Uzoma
Owerri, Oct. 31, 2019 (NAN) The Imo government has embarked on a series of reforms designed to improve service delivery, boost productivity and restore the morale and capacity of the state civil service.
Gov. Emeka Ihedioha disclosed this during a Public Service Stakeholders’ summit organised by the state government in Owerri on Thursday.
The governor was represented at the event by the Deputy Governor, Mr Gerald Irona, according to a news release issued by the Senior Special Adviser on Media to the Deputy Governor, Dr Walter Duru.
The governor said the summit was convened to revive and reinvent the state civil service.
He stated that his administration was committed to re-engineering the Imo state public service to bringing it to line with global best standards.
The governor described the public service as the “engine room of the public sector,” adding that a vibrant and motivated public service was necessary for the success of every administration.
“This summit has been convened with a view to reviving and reinventing the Imo state public service.
“It is also to align it with our vision to rebuild, reposition and transform the state to become one of the three most developed economies in Nigeria by the year 2025.
“The public service, as we are all aware, is the engine room of the public sector and governments either rise or fall on the shoulders of their public service.
“We are, therefore, committed to re-engineering the Imo state public service, with a view to bringing it to line with global best standards,” he added.
Ihedioha expressed displeasure that the productivity of the civil service still left much to be desired while attributing the lapses to errors of the past administration.
“The productivity level of the public service has left much to be desired.
“Eight years of abuse, engendered by nepotism, delayed salaries and a spate of under-payments by sometimes as much as 30 per cent of salaries due, left the otherwise virile Imo state public service comatose.
“We are also aware of years of abuse of the public service procedure and the infusion of invasive species through imposition of strange personnel without regard to due process,” the governor said.
The governor also recalled that his administration had earlier set up a review committee to look into cases of improper or irregular appointments, promotions and other related
matters.
He added that while waiting for the final report of the committee, the payment of 100 per cent salaries was approved while local government workers were paid the backlog of salaries they were owed.
Speaking on some transparency initiatives of his administration, Ihedioha further recalled that at the inception of his tenure, structures for transparency and accountability in the governance process were set up.
He listed some of the initiatives to include his signing into law Executive Order 005,
known as Treasury Single Account (TSA) Order, designed to consolidate all government
revenues under one account.
He also listed the implementation of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) in compliance with international public service best practice.
He also disclosed that his administration had applied and was in the process of joining
the Open Government Partnership (OGP), a multi-stakeholder initiative, with a view to entrenching openness and transparency in governance.
He, however, challenged public servants in the state to improve their service delivery while urging them to justify the investments of the government in them.(NAN)
UOI/DCU
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Edited by Donald Ugwu