The Chairman, Rivers State Civil Service Commission, Chief Ngo Martyns-Yellowe, has said that the just-concluded summit of civil service commissions across the country held in Port Harcourt has laid bare the monumental gains of the Federal Government’s transformation agenda.

Speaking in an interview with The Tide last Friday, Martyns-Yellowe said much has been achieved in the education, health, power, transport, information and communication technology (ICT), works and oil and gas sector reforms under the transformation initiative, adding that the civil service has been the elixir and the lubricating factor in this process.

To further realise the vision of the President Goodluck Jonathan administration, Martyns-Yellowe noted that the civil service chiefs across the nation have resolved to deploy every resources available to enhance the government’s ability to meet set targets in policy implementation and projects execution.

He noted that such resolve included the decision of civil service commissions in both the 36 states and the Federal Capital Commission to liaise with the Federal Civil Service Commission, as a matter of policy, on all issues of common interest.

According to him, both the federal and state civil service commissions have agreed to deepen and sustain the various reforms being undertaken by government in order to have an effective and efficient civil service, which would provide quality service delivery to the people.

Martyns-Yellowe stated that the conference’s position to push for the introduction of performance contracting to replace the current promotion examination in conformity with global best practices was necessary to move the nation forward, adding that it was for this reason that they suggested the experimentation of the process in some ministries.

He explained that the commissions’ low funding profile was worrisome as it helps in impeding the pace of project delivery across the country, and called for proper funding and sufficient budgetary provisions to enable the commissions execute their constitutional mandate effectively.

According to him, the conference has recommended that only persons with public service antecedents should be appointed as members of the state civil service commissions as it obtains at the federal civil service.

The commission’s boss noted that the conference had called for the motivation of staff of civil service commissions across the country by payment of not lower than 25 per cent of their monthly basic salary.

He stressed that the ambiguity in the interpretation of sections 153, 158 and 170 of the 1999 Constitution was affecting the performance of the civil service, and urged the ad-hoc committee set up to examine the provisions in relation to the functions of the commissions to fast track its assignment in order to enhance service delivery.

Martyns-Yellowe stated that there was need for systematic and intensive training and retraining for the development of officers to improve their capacities in the discharge of their duties, adding that permanent secretaries of the state civil service commissions should benefit from training and retraining programmes designed for federal permanent secretaries.

He said the conference had recommended that permanent secretaries from all state civil service commissions should meet bi-annually to assess the level of implementation and impact of decisions taken at the annual conference, adding that the next conference of the commissions would hold in Delta State in 2013.

Nelson Chukwudi