An All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant in Ebonyi, Chief Elias Mbam, says he has developed a roadmap to reposition the state civil and public service sector.
Mbam, who is the Chairman, Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), said this at a stakeholders’ consultative meeting in Abakaliki on Monday.
He spoke through his Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr Obinna Udenwe.
He gave assurance that the roadmap for reform would help to revitalise the sector which, according to him, has been moribund.
He said that his many decades of experience in the civil and public service placed him on a proper pedestal to understand the problems and challenges confronting the sector.
The governorship hopeful said: “Our reform roadmap will fix the civil service and bring back efficiency, effectiveness and service delivery.
“Today, civil and public service have lost the glamour associated with the sector due to poor remuneration, lack of incentives and absence of reward system.
“But I have good news for our people.
“The reforms that we have developed and which we are going to implement, if elected, will address these challenges, revamp and revitalise the ailing sector.”
He further said that his life had largely been dedicated to the service of his people through civil and public service, which he described as “the nucleus of both government and society.
“The service draws up policy plans, research on various societal issues, generate ideas and offer advice to government on needs of the people and how to meet them.
“Civil and public servants are the engine room of government which drives its day-to-day activities,” he said.
Mbam further described civil service as strategic in helping any government to achieve its objectives.
He said that leaders who understood the rules, practices and bureaucracies of civil service turned out to become the best, delivering on dividend of democracy and their mandates.
He opined that it would require someone who had been a civil servant to understand the importance of civil and public service to the delivery of good governance.
“Civil servants should be given welfare packages, training and retraining needed to enhance their professionalism to eliminate rancour between government and workers,” he said.
Mbam also said that his administration’s workplan, tagged, “the Ebonyi Dream”, comprised the dreams of the founding fathers of the state, the plans of past and present leaders and his vision for the state.