… Warns complainants against baseless, unverifiable allegations
By Edna Emeni
Henceforth, any Ministry, Department and Agency (MDA) in Delta State that fails to establish a SERVICOM Unit will be violating Gov Sheriff Oborevwori’s directive.
The warning was handed down by the Senior Political Adviser to the State Governor, Rt. Hon Funkekeme Solomon in an exclusive interview with the Pointer.
To this end, he said, every MDA must, therefore, publish a service charter, and set up a SERVICOM Unit, headed by a Nodal Officer, supported by staff to handle complaints and improve service.
Also, complaints and suggestion boxes, as well as dedicated phone lines that would be provided will allow the public to give anonymous feedbacks, Hon Funkekeme Solomon added.
But he warned that, whatever complaints or observations that would be made must be backed by varifiable evidence.
“We don’t want people to make baseless allegations. Reports must be authentic, and we would carry out investigations. We won’t just collect something scribbled on a piece of paper; it must conform to standard practice”, he added.
Hon Funkekeme Solomon, who also disclosed that his office had engaged Local Government Councils on this, with emphasis on effective leadership as key said, Gov Oborevwori has acted on the recommendations of his office, adding that in this month of August, almost all MDA’s in the state would have received their boxes, where people can come, drop complaints or observations.
Reacting to the abuse of “school runs” by government officials (civil and public servants), Hon Funkekeme Solomon attributed it to lack of proper monitoring by relevant authorities.
To put this in check, he said, “my office, through SERVICOM, in collaboration with the office of the Head of Service is working on a system that would ensure that civil and public servants are, henceforth, effectively monitored and watched.
While saying that the state government frowns at the trend, he said, spending unduly long hours doing “school runs” is an encroachment on workers official work hours, and a deservice to the government. This must stop, because, henceforth; there is going to be accountability in service delivery.
