Governor Alex Otti of Abia has urged members of the State Executive Council to evolve robust and sustainable work plans to facilitate the achievement of his government’s strategic goals for the 2025 fiscal year.

Mr Otti said this on Saturday during the opening of the two-day First Quarter Executive Council Retreat for 2025 in Umuahia.

The two-day event with the theme: “Sustaining Momentum: Accelerating Execution” is designed to be an expository, interactive and agenda-setting forum to identify operational challenges and proffer solutions for effective governance.

The governor said periodic assessments and leveraging past achievements are vital to improving governance and institutional efficiency.

He said the retreat was organised to bring operational challenges to the forefront and explore new strategies for overcoming obstacles in executing government policies.

Mr Otti urged the executive members to approach their duties with renewed commitment, emphasising that the administration was elected to set a higher governance standard than previous administrations.

“This administration is not going to be judged by the mediocre standards of past administrations because we were elected to raise the bar and raise it very high,” Mr Otti said.

In his speech, the secretary to the State Government, Kenneth Kalu, said the retreat would allow participants to reflect on their progress in their various assignments.

Mr Kalu added the event would motivate participants to evolve strategies for sustained advancement in various sectors, including infrastructure, health, and education.

Also, a former Head of Service of the Federation, Stephen Oronsaye, said key challenges experienced in the public service include lack of capacity, accountability, and transparency.

Mr Oronsaye said effective strategies such as staff auditing, workforce assessment, training, and reforms could be used to enhance service delivery.

Also, the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Information, Chris Onwuegbu, and that of the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Ugonma Jimonu, said the programme would help government officials to align with the present administration’s vision.

They added that it would minimise conflicts between political appointees and bureaucrats.

(NAN)