Governor Godwin Obaseki last week gave a directive that civil servants in the state would henceforth work three days a week to cushion the effect of the removal of the fuel subsidy.
In a meeting with Permanent Secretaries as well as heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies, Okungbowa assured that the reduced office work days would not affect the productivity and efficiency of the civil service as the workers could work with their devices and the e-gov platform, which was introduced in 2021, no matter their location.
The HOS said, “This reduction of work days in Edo State will in no way affect our performance and productivity negatively. It appears that the governor anticipated this situation when he introduced e-governance in 2021.
“Edo State became effectively an e-governance state on November 1, 2021. Since then, the government has invested so much in the project that all 72 MDAs have been on-boarded on the platform, thus making Edo Public Service the most digitalized in Nigeria.
“According to the directive of the Governor, workers in Edo State will work three days a week, and offices will not be shut in the two days of the five working days as we would have officers on the ground to continue government activities. People should continue to visit government offices as the offices are open for business.
“The template of COVID-19 will be reactivated as offices were not shut, as arrangements are in place for officers to come to work, ensuring government activities continue provided nobody is forced to work more than three days a week.”
Okungbowa stated that people who want to work more than three days a week should be allowed to do so as the conducive environment and uninterrupted internet service attract workers to continue to come to work, and such people will be commended.
“Heads of agencies, MDAs, and PSs of various ministries should develop the work templates and ensure that what they do works for them and ensure government services are not interrupted,” he added.
On other steps by the government to cushion the effect of the fuel subsidy removal on the people, the Head of Service said, “There will be shuttle buses running between Government House, State Secretariat, and JOOPSA to ease the hike in transportation fare caused by subsidy removal on petrol. The shuttle bus will leave every hour of the workday to help reduce the stress of workers in the state.
