Gombe ‘ll embark on massive recruitment into civil service says Gov. Yahaya
By Elizabeth Ogunjobi
Gov. Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State says plans are underway to embark on massive recruitment of youths into the state’s civil service.
Yahaya stated this on Thursday in Gombe while swearing-in 19 Permanent Secretaries into the state’s civil service.
He said that he has directed Prof. Mu’azu Shehu, the Head of Service in the state to carry out a needs assessment to identify spaces that have either been created by death or retirement of civil servants in the state
The governor noted that his administration would embark on massive recruitment to fill in the spaces and strengthen the state’s workforce for effective service delivery after the assessment.
“I have directed the head of service to work with the civil service commission in order to identify the critical needs of the state.
“Very soon, we shall engage in massive employment to replace those that have left service or exited by means of death,” he said.
Yahaya said that his administration has made reforms and revitalisation of the civil service a top priority since 2019.
He said such reforms resulted in the establishment of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms, introduction of a Biometric Attendance System and the implementation of the minimum wage for both state and local government employees.
He added that the biometric attendance had addressed the menace of ghost workers and poor attendance while saving billions of Naira for the state.
The governor also pointed out that 1000 teachers were recruited to address the shortage of teaching personnel in schools, while a state-of-the-art Secretariat Complex was constructed to provide a conducive environment for civil servants.
“We have also paid over N33 billion in pension and gratuity obligations, 70 per cent of which was inherited from the previous administration; and by the end of September, as I earlier promised, we will embark on another phase of gratuity payment,” he said.
Yahaya urged the newly appointed 19 permanent secretaries, comprising three women and 16 men, to see their appointments as a call to greater responsibility.
He said that the appointment of the permanent secretaries was the largest ever made in the history of the state, adding that his administration had sworn-in 55 permanent secretaries since 2019.
“The feat demonstrated my administration’s unwavering commitment to reinvigorating the state’s civil service by strengthening the capacity for service delivery and repositioning it as the engine room of the government,” he said.
Mr Mohammed Babaji, one of the appointees, on behalf of his colleagues, thanked the governor for the confidence reposed in them.
He pledged to justify their appointment with professionalism and renewed commitment to service.
