By Amos Aar
THE SECRETARY to the Benue State Government (SSG), Prof. Joseph Alakali, has charged Civil Servants particularly those working in the cabinet office to be committed to their service to the state now that he said Governor Hyacinth Alia is ensuring prompt payment of their salaries.
Alakali, who gave the charge Friday during the 2023 end-of-the-year party organised for staff of the cabinet office, said many civil servants confirmed the receipt of their salaries on February 23, 2024 hence the need for commensurate service.
“Today is 23rd instead of 25th, it means government is serious. Be punctual to work, don’t be truant and give your best”, he stressed.
He promised that as salary payment is being stabilised, the issue of overhead will also be looked into.
“I know that in this office, when you have a lot of duties, you have to stay on for a while, sometimes beyond 4 o’clock. But that is appreciation for what the governor is doing.
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“I know there is culture of paying over time. But because of the challenges of the government at the time, we are not really looking into that. Once the issue of salary is stabilised, we will go back to the issue of overtime”, Alakali assured.
The SSG who lamented the unbefitting status of the cabinet office which according to him was not given attention by the past administrations expressed optimism that Governor Alia will upgrade the office to give it a facelift.
“This is not how a cabinet office should be. But when you come in maybe within three months, you cannot change things just at once. But you can see that a few things are being changed and we need to give the governor some time to be able to reach the different parts of departments of ministries of the government”,
In his remarks, Permanent Secretary in the SSG’s office, Mr Godwin Tir, thanked Governor Alia for prompt payment of salaries and encouraged staff of the cabinet office to reciprocate the gesture with optimum productivity. In a vote of thanks, Director of Exco, Mr Bartholomew Geraja, cautioned civil servants against partisan politics to avoid some issues they have being complaining about, saying they are the cause of their problems sometimes by pitching tent with a political party.
