By Kemi Olatunde

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A healthy relationship between the office of the state Head of Service and the Civil Service Commission has been described as key to efficient service delivery to the public.

Ondo State Head of Service, Pastor Kayode Ogundele made the position known while receiving the Chairman and Commissioners of the state Civil Service Commission in his office in Akure, the state capital.

Describing the roles of the two government’s establishments as inter-related, the Head of Service said his office would continue to relate with the commission in the areas of appointments, promotions and necessary disciplinary actions in the civil service of the state.

Ogundele, who reiterated the state government’s desire to ensure an adequate succession plan for the civil service, said actions were on in respective ministries and extra-ministerial departments of government to identify existing vacancies with a view to filling them at the appropriate time. 

He added that the focus of the present administration was to inject into the service, officers that would be innovative, creative and compliant with the current ICT realities.

Also speaking on capacity building in the public service in the state, the HoS said the Public Service Training Institute, PSTI, at Ilara-Mokin was being repositioned, not only to meet the training need of officers but to as well serve as a reference point to others across the country.

Earlier in his address, the Chairman of the commission, Prince Ajose Kudehinbu, who led the delegation, had advocated for synergy between the two offices for the overall interest of the service and the state in general.

He lamented the existing succession gap in the state civil service occasioned by what he described as a top-heavy situation, whereby there were no longer enough officers at the lower officers levels, saying that posed danger to the system.

Commissioners from the Civil Service Commission, Chief Joel Magi, Otunba Issac Itiola, Hon. Cornelius Okeowo and Hon Festus Akinyeke also lent their voices to the call for a robust relationship.