Public Service Reforms: Stakeholders Lauds Enugu Govt

Mohammed O. Taoheed reports,

Some stakeholders have hailed Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, the Enugu State, for making the state a reference point in public service reforms in the nation.

Track News Nigeria understands the appreciation follows during the recent visit to Enugu State by a delegation of Bayelsa State Government led by the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Biriyai Dambo, who was accompanied by the Chairman, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade John B. Ndiomu and many others, to study the strategic reforms and other giant strides Gov. Ugwuanyi’s incumbent leadership has made in the public service.

The team from Bayelsa State government, according to the Enugu State Head of Service, Mr. Ken Chukwuegbo, visited Enugu “on an experience sharing visit through which they (Bayelsa team) gathered more strategies in the ongoing reforms of the state’s public service”.

The Bayelsa State Government team leader, Dambo, had noted that the state government decided to visit a sister state, Enugu, for cross-fertilisation of ideas on how to plug loopholes in governance, its public service and consequently draw similarities to see if their structure was in tandem with what obtains in Enugu, saying that the choice of Enugu was due to its huge feats in public service reforms.

The Attorney-General explained further they were in Enugu to get information on the salary structures and other related allowances, noting that Bayelsa State has a population of more than two million people with 48,000 work force in the civil service.

Speaking, Mr. Chukwuegbo, the Enugu State Head of Service, who received the team on behalf of Gov. Ugwuanyi , proclaimed that the state’s public service and indeed other sectors of development had truly undergone series of reforms under Gov. Ugwuanyi’s administration.

Chukwuegbo told the Bayelsa team that with a workforce of more than 20,000 core civil and public servants, Enugu is one of the few states in the country that embraced the new National Minimum Wage of N30,000.00 with its consequential adjustments and had been up to date in the payment of workers’ salaries, even during the global lock down occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.

He added that Enugu State, under Gov. Ugwuanyi sponsored more than 50 top civil servants for training at the highly revered National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Jos, and was acknowledged by the institute as the state that sponsored the highest number of civil servants during the PSLC41 set.

Chukwuegbo assured the Bayelsa team that they made the right choice to visit Enugu State, as the state operated a Central Payroll System, which had helped to check fraud and ghost worker- syndrome by 90%.

The Enugu State Head of Service stated that new entrants were made to undergo biometric capturing under his office, during which employee details were captured and stored in the system, which automatically disengaged the employees on retirement.

He said that the state operated ‘I’m Alive Scheme’ for pensioners, in synergy with banks, which checked the incidence of deceased pensioners who continued to receive salary. He noted that pensioners now have to be physically present in the banks with their pension authority for confirmation before subsequent payments.

The Head of Service maintained that the visit provided opportunity for exchange programmes and visits between the two states.

In reaction, the Enugu State Chairmen of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), Comrade Virginus Nwobodo and Comrade Ben Asogwa respectively, applauded Gov. Ugwuanyi for making Enugu a reference point in public service reforms in Nigeria.

They stressed the priority the governor placed on the welfare and capacity building of civil and public servants in Enugu State.

The labour leaders expressed delight at the inherent benefits of the visit to both states (Enugu and Bayelsa) towards the advancement of innovative, effective and efficient public service for optimal results, stressing that it was a good sign of synergy and fruitful relationship.