By; MOHAMMED KAWU, Bauchi
Twenty-two newly appointed permanent secretaries were on Friday in Bauchi, presented with new vehicles, mini-jeeps (Suzuki) for the effective and efficient discharge of their official responsibilities in the state public service.
Presenting the vehicles to the beneficiaries, Governor Bala Mohammed said the state government is also giving free as a mark of respect and appreciation, four similar vehicles to members of the organized labour in the state.
He positioned, “I say free of charge because this is a token of appreciation for the good labour relations that we have over the years even though we have difficulties which I will enumerate later”.
The governor said however, that the labour has tried to make sure that itself and the government really do justice to the state nominal and pay rolls, as they have been all along been with the government making sure that neither the government nor the labour was short-changed in the last civil servants’ verification exercise.
Mohammed recalled that his administration at its inception in 2019 inherited a highly demoralized and disorganized civil service as a result of erratic and non-payment of salaries, as pension payment was also a programme, due to lack of standard data in the service.
He also attributed the unfortunate situation to the poorly managed payroll and other data on the civil service, hence his government resolve to cleanse the nominal and pay rolls with a view to put the civil service on the right track towards reclaiming its loss glory and make it efficient and results oriented.
Senator Bala said that government is making concerted efforts to ensure that the backlog of gratuities of N26 billion inherited from the previous administration is settled in a holistic manner which, he believes, would positively affect the socio-economic well-being of the state.
It is for this reason, the governor said, that he recently assented to a law enacted by the State House of Assembly to allow for migration from the Defined Benefits Pension Scheme to the Contributory Pensions Scheme (CPS).
To this end, Bala stated, efforts are being made to plot a bond to obtain funds from the organized private sector and the capital market for the settlement of the gratuities backlog in a holistic manner.
“I wish to assure the people of the state in general and the civil service in particular that I’m not unaware of the large number of our youths who have graduated from higher institutions of learning and are roaming the streets aimlessly.
‘Government is also not unaware of the aspiration of the civil service and other merit-based services in the state for promotion and elongation of service and other things that are really bestow on the service, but because of lack of resources we have not been able to do it for a very long time”.
The Governor therefore urged the permanent secretaries to continue to do their best in the discharge of their responsibilities by being upright and dedicated to their duties.
