By Kemi Olatunde

The immediate past Head of Service in Ondo State, Pastor Kayode Ogundele has formally handed over to his successor, Mr Bayo Philip.

In a brief ceremony held in the office of the Head of Service, Ogundele thanked God for his journey in the Ondo State Public Service and particularly as the HoS.

While thanking the Permanent Secretaries, Accounting Officers and others for working with him to succeed in office, he urged them to extend such cooperation to the new Head of Service.

Reacting, Mr Bayo Philip appreciated the former HoS, saying he has laid a good foundation in Ondo State Public Service which would be easy to build upon.

In a related development, the new Head of Service, Mr Bayo Philip has charged workers in the state to always ensure speedy execution of whatever assignment they have to work on.

The Head of Service gave the charge at his maiden meeting with Permanent Secretaries, Directors and other senior officers in his office in Akure, the state capital on Monday.

While pledging an efficient and proactive public service under his leadership, Mr Philip said the service cannot afford to fail the government and people of the state stating that steps would be taken to ensure that promotion processes are speedily completed so that deserving officers get their promotion as and when due.

According to him, “It is possible to conclude our promotion of the succeeding by October. We can tidy it up so that SMC can sit by October or November then Civil Service Commission can work on it by December and we can promote people by January.”

He reiterated his commitment to strengthen training of workers using the instrumentality of the Public Service Training Institute, PSTI at Ilaro-Mokin in Ifedore Local Government Area of the state.