For the Delta State Public Service to be transformed and become a model for others, there is need to promote clarity of roles, purpose and direction of key institutions in the state’s civil service.
This was the assertion of the Director General, Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR), Mr. Dasuki Ibrahim Arabi, who hosted a delegation of the Delta State civil service, in his office, in Abuja.
While receiving his guests, Arabi ‘bluntly’ said that the Delta State Public Service and indeed the Nigerian public sector at large, has been plagued by (well-known and extensively discussed) numerous problems.
His words: “The results of these problems is an over-aching apathy that has so far culminated into lethargy, poor capacity, nepotism, corruption, inefficiency and poor service delivery.”
He however, stressed the need for the Delta State public service to champion civil service reforms that will introduce an Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) and also clean-up the payroll of civil servants.
According to him, there is need to provide a legal framework for the regulation of the public service; enforce public service rules/financial regulations and conduct periodic functional review of Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Government in Delta State.
He said: “It is important that you restructure your Ministries, undertake a comprehensive job evaluation in the State Public Service and also introduce Department of Reforms in MDAs to manage reform implementation units”.
Responding, Mr. Emma Okafor, the Senior Special Assistant on Civil Service Matters to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, assured that upon returning to Asaba, he will meet with officials of the State’s Head of Service to carefully study the documents on civil service reforms donated by BPSR, with a view to coming up with their own proposal to Mr. Governor, on ways to transform Delta Public Service.
Signed:
Aliyu Umar Aliyu,
Principal Information Officer,
BPSR.
