Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, has embarked on a reform process that would enthrone a virile, efficient, dedicated and performance-driven civil service, an aide to the governor, Dr. Oluebube Chukwu, has said.

Otti recently inaugurated a committee to identify and review anomalies in the state’s civil service, including command promotions from 2007 till date.

The committee, headed by Dr. Chibueze Ukaegbu, has as members,the state’s Commissioners for Justice, Mr. Ikechukwu Uwanna; Science and Technology, Mr. Emmanuel Oriaku, and Digital Economy, Dr. Matthew Ekwuruibe.

Other members of the committee are the governor’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Mr. Chinedu Ekeke, Rev. Father Christian Anokwuru; state’s Accountant General, Mrs. Njum Onyemenam; Dr. Sylvester Ibeneme and Chief Ogbonna Izima.

Governor Otti has also appointed Dr. Oluebube Chukwu as his Senior Special Assistant on Due Process.

The governor, who inaugurated the committee through the Secretary to the State Government, Professor Kenneth Kalu, tasked the members to diligently and credibly discharge their assignment and directed that they work closely with the Office of the Head of Service to get relevant information they would require for their assignment.

Governor Otti, who described the civil service as the critical machinery of governance that should play a vital role in the execution of government’s policies and objectives, assured the state’s civil servants that the committee was not set up to witch-hunt anybody, but to assist government in creating a better service that would be beneficial to the people of Abia state.

Specifically, the committee is “to review the current civil service structure with a view to improving it’s efficiency, the process of appointment, promotion, and dismissal and to make appropriate recommendations, reviewing the command promotions done from 2007 and to make appropriate recommendations on how to improve attendant and general discipline in the service, including examining how to address the issues concerning pensioners and any other reviews and make necessary recommendations on how to improve general efficiency.

Speaking on the development, Dr. Chukwu told The Guardian that the process aims to ensure that decisions made in the past were in accordance with established procedures in line with due process, assuring that any inconsistencies or biases identified would be rectified.

He described due process as a fundamental principle that ensures fair, transparent and accountable decision-making within government activities, stressing that the governor’s action demonstrates his commitment to review and enhance the efficiency of the civil service

Chukwu said Governor Otti has applied due process in his governance activities, citing the ongoing proposed expansion of the entry road to Umuahia, the state capital, from the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway to buttress his point.

He added that the state government has consulted all the stakeholders in the project to ensure hitch-free and successful expansion of the road from its four-lane structure to six.

The expansion, he said, involves the demolition of 160 already marked structures and houses, which notices have been served to the affected owners with government promising to pay due compensations to them.