Gov Otti swears in Edo indigene as Abia head of civil service

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Governor Alex Otti of Abia State swore in Benson Ojeikere as the new head of the state’s civil service on Monday.

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According to a statement on Tuesday from the governor’s media aide, Ferdinand Ekeoma, Mr Ojeikere is from Edo State.

The statement said Mr Ojeikere, after his university education, was posted to Abia State for the mandatory National Youth Service Corps programme in 1999. There, he served and emerged as the best corps member and subsequently got automatic employment in the Abia State civil service.

In 2023, Mr Otti appointed him a permanent secretary following his emergence as one of the best in the selection process. He was posted to the Government House, where he served until the governor appointed him head of the civil service.

“Governor Otti congratulated the highly elated Ojeikere and enjoined him to justify his well-deserved appointment by putting in his best in line with the vision and desire of his government to build a robust and efficient civil service that would be a reference point in Nigeria and beyond,” Mr Ekeoma said in the statement.

Mr Otti used the opportunity to reassure the people of Abia of his commitment to upholding the principles of excellence and meritocracy over mediocrity in governing the state.

The statement quoted Mr Ojeikere as saying that he was “still in shock” over his latest appointment and that although he worked very hard every day since he joined the Abia civil service, he never believed it was possible to go beyond the rank of a senior director, let alone a permanent secretary.

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Mr Ojeikere thanked Governor Otti for “allowing himself to be used by God to do what no person would have imagined was possible in any state civil service in Nigeria”.

He promised to justify the confidence and trust reposed in him by aligning with the government and working harder than ever to ensure the repositioning of the Abia civil service and make it a model that other states, from within and outside Nigeria, would want to emulate.