Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has approved the appointment of 45 permanent secretaries and three executive secretaries in the state’s civil service.

The appointments disclosed in a statement by Information Commissioner Dotun Oyelade and formalised in a document signed by Head of Service Olubunmi Oni, include a diverse mix of roles across key sectors.

Sixteen of the newly appointed permanent secretaries will serve in the mainstream civil service. There are six Inspector General of Education, six permanent secretaries in the health sector, and seven in the local government sector.

Also, a new permanent secretary has been designated as clerk of the House of Assembly, alongside a newly appointed Surveyor General and nine Tutors General.

“This new wave of appointments is unprecedented,” Oyelade said. “It departs from the traditional practice where appointments as permanent secretaries were predominantly reserved for the mainstream civil service.”

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Local governments were notable beneficiaries of the changes, with seven new permanent secretaries allocated to the sector – a departure from previous norms, which limited local government appointments to token numbers.

In the health sector, permanent secretaries will now oversee zonal operations, replacing the previous system where hospital heads were in charge.

Similarly, the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) will operate with zonal executive secretaries, reflecting a broader restructuring.

The commissioner emphasised governor Makinde’s ongoing commitment to workforce welfare with the recruitment of over 23,000 workers and a yearly wage bill exceeding ₦143 billion, positioning Oyo as a leader in employee welfare within Nigeria.

Oyelade said the appointments demonstrate the administration’s determination to optimise efficiency and improve governance across all sectors of the state.