By Danfulani Lukman Ohinoyi
When Alhaji Yahaya Bello assumed office as Governor of Kogi State in 2016, he inherited a public service system facing serious financial and administrative challenges.
Local government workers had endured years of poor and irregular salary payments, while pensioners faced similar difficulties. Teachers and other workers staged repeated protests and industrial actions over their welfare, reflecting the deep crisis within the state’s workforce management.
Rather than continue with the existing system, the Bello administration confronted the problem head-on.
One of its most significant interventions was the comprehensive screening and verification of the state’s workforce and payroll. The exercise was designed to identify ghost workers, clean up personnel records, eliminate leakages and ensure that public funds were directed toward genuine employees.
The reform was far from easy. It challenged entrenched interests and attracted resistance, criticism and controversy. But the administration remained committed to the process, recognising that meaningful reform often comes with difficult decisions and short-term discomfort.
The principle was straightforward: Kogi’s limited resources should serve genuine workers and citizens, not fictitious names on government payrolls.
The reforms also sought to strengthen accountability and discipline in public expenditure. By confronting payroll irregularities and restructuring personnel administration, the government attempted to create a more sustainable foundation for meeting its obligations to workers and pensioners.
For supporters of the former governor, this is one of the most important aspects of his legacy: he did not merely manage the symptoms of Kogi’s financial crisis; he confronted some of the structural weaknesses that had allowed the crisis to persist.
The story of Yahaya Bello’s civil service reform is therefore not simply about salaries. It is about institutional restructuring, accountability and the political courage to confront a system that required fundamental change.
Today, whatever political opinions may exist about his administration, his supporters argue that the benefits of the reforms are being felt by the same workforce that once suffered from an unstable and inefficient system.
No meaningful transformation comes without difficult decisions. Yahaya Bello took the bull by the horns, and majority of Kogi civil servants believe that decision helped put Kogi’s public service on a more sustainable path.
– Comrade Danfulani Lukman Ohinoyi writes from Okene.
