The Rivers State Government says it may downsize its workforce to ensure efficiency in the civil service system, as the workforce is over populated with workers who had no clearly defined schedule of duty.

Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi who disclosed this, Thursday, during his maiden interactive meeting with civil servants at the State Secretariat Complex in Port Harcourt said most civil servants were redundant in their various places of work, and end up roaming about, pointing out that modalities would be worked out with the labour unions to determine how to actualise the plan to prune  the workforce.

He decried the situation where the state civil service has a workforce of about 50,000 workers, some of which have no specific duties to perform, but collect their salaries at the end of the month, noting that it was therefore necessary to maintain only an effective number of staff.

“The civil service is unnecessarily large, there are a Iot of persons in the state civil service that have nothing doing”, Governor Amaechi stated, emphasising that the state civil service was begging for reformation.

He directed the Head of Service and the department handling the automated salary system to ensure that genuine civil servants who were not captured in the process earlier are paid their salaries, as well as the arrears of promotion.

The governor declared that henceforth promotion in the state would be done purely on merit, and advised the workers to update themselves in their various areas of training to meet the changing times in society.

The state chief executive reiterated his administration’s resolve not to “dash” money to people, but  to use such funds to provide social services to the generality of the people, and told the workers that Christmas Bonus would no longer be paid because it falls among the free money government was unwilling to pay.

He enjoined them to safeguard public property in their care and fight against, corrupt practices in the system, adding that civil service  as the engine room of government is vital to the success of any administration.    

Earlier, the Head of Service, Mrs Esther Anucha, thanked Governor Amaechi for finding time to meet with the workers and commended him for the prompt attention to the provision of facilities at the state secretariat complex.

Mrs Anucha noted that the introduction of an automated salary system has helped to check the perennial issue of ghost workers in the state civil service, as salaries and allowances of workers are paid in good time.

She used the occasion to invite the governor to attend the 2010 Civil Servants Week while pledging the cooperation of workers to the success of the state government.