The Akwa Ibom State Government has reaffirmed its commitment to workers’ welfare, in line with the strategic focus of the ARISE Agenda.
Speaking at the thanksgiving service to mark the public service week 2025, held at the International Christian Worship Center, Uyo, Governor Umo Eno said it was necessary and important to do so because the civil service remains the engine room of government.
Represented by the State Commissioner for Finance, Mr Emem Bob, the Governor said he has so far paid arrears of pensions and gratuities of “over N60 billion out of the N98 billion we inherited from past administrations dating back to 2012, and stand poised to liquidate the backlog as more funds become available.
The Governor congratulated the Head of Service, Elder Effiong Essien, and all workers in the State Civil Service for what he described as a very successful series of event marking the Public Service Week, 2025.
The Governor said the theme of the year’s celebration “Leveraging Technology for a Smart and Agile Civil Service,” was apt and captures his administration’s vision for a new civil service with a culture grounded in only deliverables.
“We believe that for our civil service to align with the times for better service delivery, it must leverage technology. So, I am deeply heartened by the choice of the theme.
“Since we came in a little over two years ago, we have intentionally and strategically deployed technology in the running of our government business. We went ahead to create the first stand-alone Ministry devoted to Science and Digital Economy. To simplify government processes and eliminate wastages, we set up various portals-the Arise Employment Portal, the Verification Portals, which since they were launched, have discovered and tracked over 2,000 ghost workers and another 3,000 persons who were fraudulently receiving pensions.”
According to Governor Eno, the Ministry of Science and Digital Economy has also unified the mainstream Civil Service, with the State, Primary School and Local Government Sectors under one fiscal control, thus eliminating individuals from collecting salaries from more than one source
“This has made the system run efficiently and professionally and I want to thank the Head of Service again for ensuring strict compliance of this approach,” he added.
Governor Eno said in fulfilment of his campaign promise to inject new hands into the Civil Service, he had authorized the recruitment of 3,000 new workers into the civil service and advised prospective applicants to apply through the State employment portal.
Source: Ikechukwu Agbamebgue, FRCN, Uyo.
