Gov. Alex Otti of Abia State has urged members of the State Executive Council to evolve robust and sustainable work plans to facilitate the achievement of government’s strategic goals for the 2025 fiscal year.
Otti said this on Saturday during the opening of the two-day First Quarter Executive Council Retreat for 2025, for the enlarged Abia Executive Council members in Umuahia.
The two-day event with the theme: “Sustaining Momentum: Accelerating Execution,” is designed to be a expository, interactive and agenda-setting forum aimed at identifying operational challenges and proffering solutions for effective governance.
The governor said periodic assessments and leveraging past achievements play a vital role to improve governance and institutional efficiency.
He said the retreat was organised to bring operational challenges to the forefront and explore new strategies for overcoming obstacles in the execution of government policies.
Otti urged the executive members to approach their duties with renewed committed, emphasising that the administration was elected to set a higher governance standard than previous administrations.
“This administration is not going to be judged by the mediocre standards of past administrations because we were elected to raise the bar and raise it very high,” Otti said.
In his speech, the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Kenneth Kalu, said the retreat would provide an opportunity for participants to reflect on the progress they had achieved in their various assignments.
Kalu added that the event would motivate participants to evolve strategies for sustained advancement in various sectors, including infrastructure, health, and education.
Also, a former Head of Service of the Federation, Mr Stephen Oronsaye, said key challenges experienced in the public service include lack of capacity, accountability, and transparency.
Oronsaye said the application of effective strategies such as staff auditing, workforce assessment, training, and reforms could be used to enhance service delivery.
Also, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Information, Mr Chris Onwuegbu, and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Mrs Ugonma Jimonu, said the programme would help government officials to align with the present administration’s vision.
They added that it would minimise conflicts between political appointees and bureaucrats.
