By; SADIQ ABUBAKAR, Maiduguri
Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State has disclosed that the state government will commence payment of outstanding arrears of promotion benefits to the state’s civil servants by the end of January 2023.
The governor revealed this during swearing-in ceremony of the new chairman and board members of the reconstituted Borno State Civil Service Commission (BSCSC) at the Government House Council Chamber Maiduguri, where he said, his government will do everything possible to settle all the outstanding payments of the promotion benefits.
It would be recalled that the outstanding arrears of promotion benefits started in July, 2016 during the Bio-Metric Data exercise of the state civil servants, inherited from the past administration of Former Governor Kashim Shettima.
The swearing-in of the chairman and board members was presided over by Governor Zulum and administered by the State Chief Judge, Justice Kashim Zannah.
Those reappointed and sworn-in, include, the Chairman of the CSC, Dr. Bulama Mali Gubio and four commissioners, comprising of Barrister Yakubu Bukar as Commissioner I , Zarami Dungus. as Commissioner II, Hon. Bulama Fugu as Commissioner III, and Justus Zare as Commissioner IV.
The governor congratulated the appointees and expressed confidence in the chairman and commissioners of the reconstituted CSC, while describing them as people of proven integrity and unquestionable character, capable of repositioning the state service.
“The Civil Service is the pillar of all sectors of the economy which a responsible government depends upon to carry out its policies and programmes effectively.
” I can’t succeed without having a vibrant and competent civil servants who are patriotic and dedicated.
“Whether we like it or not, there are some people in the civil service who have been promoted without recourse to due process. How can a civil servant with a Diploma be promoted to the rank of a Director, How?
“The major policy thrust of this administration is the full recovery and reconstruction which depend on the institutional capability of the public service and professional competency of the work force, hence the training and retraining of the workforce.” Zulum said.
He added that civil service is the pillar upon which all developmental efforts of government depend, hence government will not allow the system to suffer.
According to him, In the quest to reposition and reinvigorate the civil service in line with recovery efforts through the 25- year development framework and 10- year strategic initiative, his government will initiate complete computerization of the commission’s record keeping and retrieval system to enhance the function of the commission.
He further said there was the need to reposition the civil service and further directed compilation of a comprehensive nominal roll of the civil servants in the state and also ordered for compilation of vacancies in all Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs preparatory to conduct of promotion examinations for eligible personnel to be held before the end of this year.
In his remarks, the Head of Service, Barrister Simon Malgwi said the CSC and appointment of personnel to serve in the commission are constitutional requirement, hence the swearing in of the chairman and the four commissioners.
While the newly sworn in Chairman of the CSC, Dr Bulama Mali Gubio expressed appreciated to the state government for finding them worthy for the task and pledged to live up to expectations, even as he further called on the civil servants to follow due process in their dealings with the commission, assuring that they are in safe hands.
