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The Anambra State Governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, has ordered the suspension of civil servants not on duty by 10 am during his surprise visit to the state secretariat in Awka, on Thursday.
Soludo gave the order after conducting an on-the-spot assessment of workers’ punctuality across ministries and departments of the state.
Addressing journalists after the visit, the governor said any worker not found at their duty post by 10 am should be suspended without pay.
He said, “I walked in, office by office, and there are quite a significant number of workers who are not yet at work as of 10 am. This is unacceptable.
“The ‘bad eggs’ will be shipped out because Anambra is an A-state and cannot afford an inefficient civil service.
Firm measures will be taken to check these attitudes in the civil service.”
The governor described his overall findings as a mix of “the good, the bad and the ugly,” commending diligent workers while expressing dissatisfaction with absenteeism and poor work ethic among some staff.
He warned that the state government would no longer tolerate indiscipline and lack of commitment in the civil service.
Soludo restated his administration’s resolve to build a disciplined, agile, efficient and result-oriented workforce, adding that reforms would be strictly enforced.
“The government had invested significantly in improving infrastructure and working conditions at the secretariat. Workers should reciprocate with dedication and productivity,” he added.
During his inspection of various ministries and departments, the governor engaged directly with personnel to gauge the prevailing work culture.
Providing a candid situational report, Soludo paid a high tribute to the “good people” within the system — the disciplined civil servants who have consistently maintained professional integrity and strict adherence to official work hours, emphasising that their dedication remains the bedrock of his administration’s developmental goals.
Addressing the issue of chronic “absenteeism and late-coming,” Soludo said, “Those who fail to meet time-keeping standards will be pinned off.
“The era of lacklustre performance and entitlement in the civil service has come to an end.
“We are committed to evolving a civil service that is agile, effective, and efficient.
“To achieve this, the administration is prioritising three key pillars of reform: deployment of technology – transitioning towards digital workflows to enhance speed and transparency.
“Effective supervision and evaluation – implementing rigorous performance tracking to ensure accountability at all levels and physical infrastructure improvements – sustaining the modernisation of the secretariat to provide a conducive work environment.”
He said the visit served as a definitive directive for the total transformation of the state’s bureaucracy.
He added that by integrating technological innovation with strict disciplinary oversight, the administration aimed to ensure that the civil service remained a high-performance vehicle for the delivery of dividends of democracy to Ndi Anambra.
