BY SUNDAY EGEDE
Delta State Governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori has frowned at the attitude of age falsification among some civil servants in the state, with the intention to prolong their years in service, warning those involved to desist from such unprogressive act.
Governor Oborevwori handed down the warning on Tuesday evening during a dinner organised by the state government for the College of Permanent Secretaries, led by the Head of Service, Mr. Reginald Bayoko. In attendance were heads of Extra Ministerial Departments; directors and deputy directors in the state civil service, which was held at the Event Centre, Asaba.
The Governor said any civil servant who has attained the age of retirement should retire from the service so as to create oportunities for younger ones to be employed, adding that civil servants should always use their real age in their documentations.
He expressed appreciation to workers in the state for the love they had shown to this administration, pointing out that they should continue to support the policies and programmes of his administration for the overall growth and development of the state.
“If you know you have attained retirement age, please retire so that the younger ones could be employed into the civil service. “You should use your real age so that people can grow in the system. When you are old, please allow the young ones to take over.
“I thank you for the love you people have shown to this administration. Let us continue to work together for the growth and development of the state,” the Governor added.
He disclosed that the dinner was in fulfilment of the promise he made during the meeting he held with Permanent Secretaries and Directors in the state civil service on January 29, this year.
“Today’s dinner is in fulfilment of the promise l made during our meeting of January 29, this year. We have come to interact, share experiences and enjoy ourselves.
“I think it is important l update you on some of the matters arising from our last meeting where a lot of issues were raised. First is the issue of poor telephone network in the Prof. Chike Edozien State Secretariat Complex and the issue of security in the old secretariat among others,” he stated.
As part of deliberate effort to mitigate the issue of poor telephone network at the new state secretariat, the Governor directed the commissioner for Science and Technology and his Special Duties counterpart to ensure that the issue was nipped in the bud before the end of March, 2025.
On the issue of security in the old state secretariat, he charged the various government agencies in the secretariat to synergise with a view to addressing the issue, adding that they should also promote good work ambience that will ultimately stimulate productivity.
“We are looking at the suggestions that you people made during that our meeting of January 29, this year, with a view to seeing how we can implement some of them (suggestions) that are useful to the effective running of the state civil service,” he said.
While saying that the state has a workforce of over 60,000 workers with a wage bill of over N16 billion monthly, the Governor appealed to Permanent Secretaries, Heads of Extra Ministerial Departments, Directors and Deputy Directors to continue to discharge their duties diligently and professionally.
He disclosed that due process will be followed in appointing a new Head of Service when the time comes, adding that more Permanent Secretaries will, also, be appointed in due course.
“We will follow due process in appointing a new Head of Service when the time comes and in due course, more Permanent Secretaries will be appointed,” he said, stressing that the appointment of Permanent Secretaries is by merit and position.
The Governor, who disclosed that the state government was not owing any of its contractors said “recently, we did 40 per cent mobilisation to our contractors. The problem we are having is not the multinationals, it is our local contractors.
“The local contractors cannot shortchange the state if the site supervising engineers are doing their work. If they (site supervising engineers) are doing their work well, there will be no point for me to go to site for project supervision.
“I am going to go round the 25 local government areas to supervise various projects being executed by the state government. If you are praying that l will not come, you are deceiving yourself. Any contractor who is doing a bad work will refund the money paid to him.”
While reiterating that his administration had not borrowed since it came on board, he said a lot had been achieved in the socio-economic growth and development of the state.
Speaking at the gathering tagged “An Evening With The Governor,” the State Head of Service (HOS), Mr. Reginald Bayoko said the forum was an open show by the governor that the state workforce was a reliable and valuable partners in progress.
Mr. Bayoko thanked Governor Oborevwori for his worker’s friendly policies and programmes since he came into office and assured him of the total support of workers in advancing his MORE Agenda for Deltans and residents of the state.
The Head of Service advocated that the full weight of the law should be enforced on erring public servants who are deeply rooted in age cheat and indiscipline.
Mr. Bayoko who has few weeks in Service, appealed to the Governor to take some steps to enhance the service and boost the morale of workers.
