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No fewer than 23,720 workers in the Ondo State Civil Service have been promoted.
According to the Ondo State Civil Service Commission, the workers’ promotion came after the workers had passed promotion examinations at various ministries and parastatals.
The Chairman of the Ondo State Civil Service Commission, Dr Afolabi Adewakun, disclosed this while speaking with journalists in Akure, the state capital on Tuesday.
The chairman said the administration in the state had taken the welfare of workers as top priority, saying, “The government has been paying workers salaries as and when due since the inception of Rotimi Akeredolu-led administration.”
Giving the breakdown, Adewakun said a total of 6,941 workers were promoted in 2017; in 2018, 7075 worker got promoted while 9,704 civil servants were elevated in 2019.
He said, “Promotions are not automatic; apart from promotion examinations, there are other factors the government considered before promoting the officers. All the workers concerned have been given letters unless those with issues and these will be looked into.”
He added that between January and October 2019, about 190 officers across the various cadres in the civil service had been given approval “to retire either as mandatory or voluntary retirement after a meritorious service to the state”
On discipline, Adewakun said cases ranging from prolonged absence from duty without official permission to general misconduct have been looked into by the commission while sanctions such as reprimand, written warning and down-grading had been meted on errant officers.
He however failed to give out the number of the sanction officers, saying many of the cases were still under investigation and some were awaiting the approval of the governor.
In her remarks, the Permanent Secretary of the commission, Mrs Folasade Adegoke, said the promotion exercise were carried out on merit and admonished the newly-promoted workers to justify the promotion.
Source: Peter Dada, Akure (PUNCH)
