Ondo State Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has received an Award of Excellence in Public Service at the 2026 Public Service Week and Public Service Lecture held at the International Centre for Culture and Events, The Dome, Akure.

The award recognised the governor’s contributions to public service development and his administration’s commitment to improving the welfare of workers in the state.

Receiving the award, Aiyedatiwa described the public service as a strategic partner in governance and the principal implementer of government policies.

He said the state’s OUR EASE agenda must deliver measurable improvements in the quality, speed, transparency and accessibility of public services.

The governor thanked the state workforce for its contributions to development and reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to workers’ welfare.

He listed timely salary payments, regular promotions with financial benefits, the elevation of qualified officers to accounting officer positions and continuous training and retraining among the government’s interventions.

Aiyedatiwa also disclosed that the Orange Health Insurance Scheme (ORANGHIS) was supporting public servants and their dependants, while gratuity arrears up to 2020 had been cleared.

He said outstanding pension obligations and gratuities would be addressed progressively, subject to available resources and established procedures.

He further listed the review of car loans, housing loans and duty tour allowances among the government’s interventions, adding that plans were being explored to provide compressed natural gas-powered buses for workers.

On manpower development, the governor said his administration had recruited more than 2,000 teachers for public primary and secondary schools, as well as about 3,323 medical personnel, including doctors and nurses.

Aiyedatiwa charged public servants to uphold accountability, discipline, professionalism, innovation, diligence and courtesy, stressing that effective governance depends on a workforce committed to quality service delivery and sustaining public trust.

The event, held under the theme “Harnessing Public Service to Promote Good Governance,” also featured a lecture by retired Federal Permanent Secretary, Ambassador Sulaiman, who proposed a five-year reform programme to transform the public service into a modern, results-oriented institution.