Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel has called on the newly sworn-in Head of Civil Service, Mrs. Ekerebong Akpan to ensure a complete turnaround in the operations of the civil service as this would checkmate falsification of records and redundancy in the service.

Governor Emmanuel made the call while administering oath of office to the new Head of Service, Mrs. Ekerebong Akpan at the Executive Council Chambers, Government House, Uyo.

He spoke of Mrs. Akpan’s appointment as an icing on the cake and maintained that her appointment comes at the time the State is being re-positioned for optimal performance in line with global best practices.

The State Chief Executive stated that the new job is challenging as she would be misquoted and misrepresented in the course of discharging her duties and advised her to inject new life and core values into the service stressing that much is expected of her. He congratulated the outgoing Head of Service, Mrs Cecilia Udoessien on her successful career and commended her dedication and commitment to the service of the State.

Governor Emmanuel used the occasion to debunk the rumour making the rounds that some newly recruited staff in the state employ have been denied salaries, stating that the recruitment exercise was marred by irregularities as some fake letters of appointment were issued to unsuspecting applicants.

He said that a committee has been set-up to review the last recruitment exercise and that those legitimately recruited into the service will get their benefits as soon as the Committee concludes its assignment.

Briefing Government House Correspondents soon after her inauguration, Mrs. Ekerebong Akpan, said that she is committed to the restoration of core values where excellence and dedication to duty is the watchword.

She urged Civil Servants across the state to key into the new vision of hard work and transparency and assured that committed workers in the government employ would be rewarded.

Until her appointment, Mrs. Ekerebong Akpan who is an astute administrator, public relations practitioner and a consultant trainer was the Permanent Secretary, Hospitals Management Board in the Akwa Ibom State Civil Service.

Her coming into the State Civil Service dates back to 1981, where she secured employment as Lecturer Two and rose to the position of a Principal in the Akwa Ibom State Civil Service Training Centre in 2004. Her appointment as Permanent Secretary came in 2010 and she was deployed to the Department of Establishments.

A Second Class Upper Division graduate of Sociology in the University of Lagos and a Fellow of the Institute of Corporate Administration, Mrs. Akpan has attended seminars and workshops both Locally and Internationally and has to her credit several meritorious and excellence awards.