Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, has promised to pay gratuity to the state’s civil servants one week after their retirement from service.
Gov Alia made this promise on Thursday while speaking with newsmen in Makurdi.
This was contained in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Tersoo Kula, who said their pensions would begin to run three months after retirement.
Kula said since the governor has regularised the payment of salaries, he would soon commence the payment of backlog of other emoluments owed workers and retirees in the state.
He argued that it was only when workers were fully motivated that there would be rise in productivity. He pointed out that as the Alia administration plans to change the fortunes of Benue, it would start with the civil service, which has the capacity to frustrate government’s polices and programmes.
Kula further said that as part of reforms to motivate civil servants in Benue State and position them for optimum performance, the governor has connected the Government House, Makurdi and the Benue State Secretariat, to the 330 KVA source of power supply.
He added that as part of plans to motivate workers to perform optimally, the governor has also directed that the state secretariat be automated to check for such vices as absenteeism from duty.
“For the first time, 330 KVA has been extended to Government House, Makurdi and now we have electricity in Government House for at least 18 hours daily, before you think of alternative sources of power.
“Also, those of you that have been here for a while know that electricity has been an issue in the Benue State secretariat, and His Excellency has also extended 330 KVA to the secretariat.
“He did this because he has noticed that civil servants are not motivated, and it’s only when the workforce is motivated that there is rise in productivity level.
On other welfare packages to motivate workers to put in their best, the CPS noted that “the Governor has also insisted that Civil servants in the state must be retrained at least once a year. He also insisted that promotion must be constant but must be on merit, so every civil servant that is worth promoting should be one who wrote and passed his or her exams.”
According to him, “People who have less than one year to retire are now begging to retire because pensions are regular. Whoever retires from service from the 29th of May, 2023, that we took over, his or her gratuity will be paid in full.
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