By Peter Duru, Makurdi

Governor Hyacinth Alia has assured that retirees in the service of the state government would henceforth get their entitlements within 120 days of retirement.

He assured that retirees would no longer wait endlessly to get their entitlements after retirement assuring that the reforms embarked upon by his administration had put in place the mechanism to ensure prompt payment to retirees.

The Governor gave the assurance during a meeting with Heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, of the state government held at the Secretariat Complex in Makurdi.

In a statement by the Principal Special Assistant to the Governor on Media, Publicity/Strategic Communications Bridget Ikyado, the Governor urged civil servants to complement the efforts of the state government by desisting from truancy and ensure effective service delivery in the state.

The Governor urged the various Heads to ensure adherence to diligence, hard work accountability, transparency, confidentiality, discipline and team work in the service.

According to the Governor “accountability has to be built in your heart, the confidentiality we used to have in the service needs to be returned, as we take charge of our life style, so should the job be.”

Continuing, the Governor said “I am here to serve you and the state; you have accepted the Job to also serve the state in various capacities, I call for a uniform style of work to justify the prompt payment of salaries,

“We need to revive, revamp and reform the civil service and we have to change the narratives. We must recaliberate to avoid embarrassing scenes and situations, because this administration will not tolerate laziness and truancy.

“Let us bring back aura, respect and value again in to the civil service.”

The Governor stated that some reforms to be introduced in the civil service would  include enhancing welfare and service delivery as well as the automation of the entire civil service.

Also, the Deputy Governor of the State, Dr. Sam Ode harped on the importance of training and retraining of staff for effective service delivery assuring that the administration would always accord priority attention to the service.

Earlier, the Head Civil Service, Mr. Moses Ode who thanked the Governor for leading members of the State Executive Council to  have a first hand information about the service in the state, commended him for leading by example.