The governor said the dedication of the civil servants to service had engendered optimum service delivery to the people of the state.
According to him, the leadership of organised labour in the state showed understanding and courage during the challenging times.
He said, “We understand the place of workers and their contributions to the socio-economic and political development of our state. This is part of the many reasons why workers’ welfare has remained a top priority of our administration.
“We have also continued to develop and build infrastructure to make life more meaningful and better for our teeming workers and other residents of the state.
We are glad that our administration surmounted the challenges imposed by dwindling resources which resulted in our inability to pay full salaries as and when due early last year.
“Today, we have paid workers’ salaries up to date. Even the seven months’ salary arrears owed by the previous administration have almost been virtually cleared by our administration. We intend to sustain the current trend in payment of salaries as and when due as our aim is to finish our tenure without owing salary. We trust in Almighty God to help us achieve this. Indeed, since we assumed office over six years ago, the promotion of workers across all cadres has been done regularly with financial benefits.
“We are also bringing a new lease of life into the civil service. We recognise the importance of innovation and ideas. Our administration, through the Performance and Project Implementation Monitoring Unit, has commenced an innovation challenge for civil servants to help unlock their potential and harvest their ideas for optimum service delivery. The second edition of the innovation challenge holds this year.
“We shall leave no stone unturned in our avowed commitment to reposition our civil service. Our efforts to depoliticise the civil service have yielded impressive results. We shall continue to give undivided attention to the issues and welfare of all workers in the state.”
The governor also expressed appreciation to the workers for their support and prayers for his administration, adding that their commitment to work has contributed largely to the success of his administration.
