The Head of Civil Service of Gombe State, Ahmed Kasimu Abdullahi, has showered praises to the State Governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, over his determination to end the billions of naira being spent in renting office spaces for State Government’s Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA’s).
The State Governor has recently flagged off the construction of a morden State Secretariat worth over N68.58b in the State capital and the Head of Civil Service commended the Governor for taking the bull by the horns after about three decades without a functional State Secretariat since the creation of the State in 1996.
Ahmed Kasimu revealed to journalists in an interview that in the last three years alone, the State Government spent nothing less than N600m each year for renting office spaces for many of it’s MDA’s because it lacked a functional State Secretariat. “This is not to mention the billions that was spent before the last three years”, he decried.
He explained however that the existing State Secretariat was more or less a temporary one which has for a very long time become grossly inadequate. He blamed past administrations for ignoring the construction of the Secretariat which he said has been long over due.
According to him, “The construction of a modern Secretariat is highly commendable and we really appreciate the Governor. It will be one of the best among some States around, having high standards and expected to stand the test of time and for generations to come”.
He added further that the new structure will have four sections and that each section will house four ministries. This is apart from the office of the Head of Civil Service.
More outstanding, the Head of Civil Service maintained, is that the Secretariat will strategically form part of the three arms zone comprising the State House of Assembly, the State Judiciary and the State Secretariat.
With the construction of the new Secretariat, contracted to Messrs Datum Construction Nigeria Limited and expected to be completed in 102 weeks, the challenges associated with office accommodation for MDA’s in the State are expected to be addressed.
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