Wike Inaugurates Rivers Civil Service Commission Board

Governor Nyesom Wike has sworn in the Chairman and other board members of the Rivers State Civil Service Commission, saying it is to fulfil his promise to promote workers and employ an additional 10,000 youths.

The board comprises a former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Works, Clifford Ndu Walter (Chairman); Venerable Richard Okpara; Osima Gina; John Nalley; and Mike Elechi.

The board members were screened by the state assembly on Friday, a day after the governor made the promise during a visit by the new executive of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).

During the Monday inauguration held at Government House, Wike acknowledged that the inauguration of the board was long overdue.

He emphasised that the only two assignments for the new board of the commission are to work out the promotion of workers at all levels, including their financial benefits, and begin the process of employing 10,000 youths into the service.

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Wike said both assignments should be concluded in one month.

He advised the board members to request from the various ministries the areas of need to deploy the new employees appropriately for efficient service delivery.

To make the application process seamless, the governor urged the commission to design a job recruitment portal to receive online applications from more persons and consider the applications more easily.

Wike warned against the witch-hunt of any staff member in the promotion process and discrimination against any applicants for the 10,000 employment opportunity.

The Rivers governor dismissed what he described as unfounded criticisms that the planned promotion and employment are to influence voters ahead of Saturday’s governorship and state assembly elections.

He explained that the process which he promised to complete “long ago” was stalled because the past NLC leadership was hostile to his administration.