Niger State Governor, Abubakar Bello, has promised civil servants in the state that they would soon be given a conducive working environment that would enable them carry out their functions effectively.

Governor Bello gave the assurance on Tuesday when he paid an unscheduled visit to the State Secretariat in Minna, the state’s capital.

While stating that plans were underway to construct more office blocks, he admitted that a situation where five or 10 persons occupy one office was not acceptable.

“I came to inspect the secretariat, to see how civil servants were doing, their welfare and to also note down some of their challenges, I knew some of them since I was a Commissioner, I know there is a huge challenge in terms of office space.

“We are proposing to build one or two blocks, I just inspected the site and it appears we have enough space to erect few more blocks and hopefully as soon as our finances improve, we will construct two more blocks to decongest the existing facilities we have.”

According to Governor Bello, with their current condition in the available offices, it was difficult to monitor staff and they could not be fully blamed for abysmal performance.

He decried the poor conditions of the secretariat and said that government would ensure improved welfare of the state workforce.

“The entire premises is discouraging, there are no functional toilets, the furniture have worn out, I know it requires a lot of funds, but I also believe if you engage people to work, you have to provide them with the environment and the tool to work, for if they don’t perform, it is not fair to hold them responsible.”

The Governor, however, said that all civil servants receiving salaries would be made to carry out their work and those in the ministries that do not have anything doing would be sent somewhere else to work, adding that it was an effort towards staff auditing. (Channels TV)

•Photo shows Gov. Bello.

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