Lagos Accountant-General Promises Improved Service Delivery

The Lagos State Accountant-General and Permanent Secretary, State Treasury Office (STO), Dr. Abiodun Muritala, has promised improved service delivery in the area of public sector financial services rendered by the government. 

Dr. Muritala spoke at the official launch of the STO’s Service Charter initiative, which is premised on providing world-class financial services to residents of the State through seasoned professionals in a conducive work environment. 

He appreciated the Lagos State Office of Transformation Creativity and Innovation (OTCI) for pioneering the initiative which, according to him, would make the office more responsive to its mandates. 

The Permanent Secretary urged members of the public, especially the stakeholders of STO, to demand excellent services from its officers, maintaining that his team, especially the Service Champions, has been trained in customer service relationships.

He explained that the motive behind the decision to have a Service Charter document in place at the State Treasury Office was to ensure efficient financial service delivery to the internal, external and connected stakeholders of the Office.  

His words: “We understand the importance of efficient service delivery and recognising that we are a 21st-Century government. As such, it became imperative that we all sat down to make inputs that will be cognitive and absolute such that customers would recognise that the civil service has been revamped”.

“The documents were crafted putting into cognisance the provision for laws bordering on payments. The document will guide us to ensure that we always meet the needs of our stakeholders”, the Accountant-General added.

Dr. Muritala further stated that the office is devoted and open to continuous improvement while seeking ways to creatively engage its public at all times.

Also speaking at the event, the Permanent Secretary, Public Service Office, Mr. Samson Ajibade, who represented the Head of Service, Mr. Hakeem Muri-Okunola at the Service Charter launch, urged officials of STO to see the document as a legacy and a blueprint to guide the service champions.

In his address, the Permanent Secretary, Local Government Service Commission, Mr. Biodun Bamgboye, advised STO to see the Service Charter document as a serious business plan, stating that there is a need to exemplify and proffer a way forward in fulfilling its pact as government to the public.

Bamgboye said: “It has become obligatory to personify the name Public Service. Know that you are there to serve the people. In the Service Charter, openness is non-negotiable, be aware and ensure that there is a free flow of information. The world has become a global village where information has become cheap”.

In the same vein, Mr. Toba Otusanya, the Director-General Office of Transformation Creativity and Innovation (OTCI), explained that the vision the government has for the creation of a Service Charter is to serve as the vehicle for setting standards that members of the public can expect when interacting with any government agency.

He remarked that it was created for transparency and to give the public full access to information about the mandates and services that each MDA provides so that they can hold the government accountable for the services the agency has been created to render.

The former Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Princess Adenike Adedoyin-Ajayi, described the Service Charter as an integral part of the blueprint to push Lagos State forward under the strategic framework of the Lagos Development Plan.

She urged STO to put a lot of work into improving service delivery so that they will gain recognition and reward for continuous improvement of the service charter.