Oyo State Governor and Presidential Candidate of the Allied People’s Movement (APM), ‘Seyi Makinde, has urged civil and public servants in the state to support leaders who will sustain the reforms, workers’ welfare initiatives and development programmes introduced by his administration in the 2027 general elections.
Makinde made the appeal on Wednesday at the 2026 Public Service Week and 2025 Merit Award Celebration held at the Professor Theophilus Ogunlesi Hall, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan.
The event featured the recognition of 57 outstanding public servants and sports award winners for their contributions to the state.
The governor, who described his seven-and-a-half-year relationship with the state workforce as a privilege, thanked workers for their support and commitment to his administration’s development agenda.
He explained that the Productivity Merit Award was introduced to promote excellence, dedication and healthy competition among public servants.
According to him, the initiative was designed to encourage workers to give their best towards the implementation of the administration’s Roadmap for Accelerated Development.
Makinde said his administration had enjoyed the cooperation of workers in navigating its early challenges and implementing its vision of leaving Oyo State better than it met it.
He urged them to extend similar support to the incoming administration to ensure continuity in the state’s development efforts.
Congratulating the award recipients, the governor charged them to sustain their commitment to excellence and mentor younger colleagues, noting that the reward for hard work was more work.
He also encouraged workers who were not recognised to remain dedicated, expressing optimism that the next administration would sustain the culture of rewarding outstanding performance.
In his remarks, the chairman of the occasion, Professor Oyesoji Aremu of the Department of Counselling and Human Developmental Studies, University of Ibadan, described Public Service Week as an opportunity for reflection, renewal and recommitment to effective service delivery.
He urged public servants to build enduring legacies through impactful service, mentorship and institution-building.
Similarly, the Secretary to the State Government, Professor Musibau Babatunde, and the Chairman of the Oyo State Civil Service Commission, Alhaji Kamorudeen Aderibigbe, commended Makinde for institutionalising merit-based recruitment and appointments in the state’s public service.
Earlier, the Head of Service, Dr Adenike Fashina, mni, praised the governor for sustaining the Merit Award initiative and improving workers’ welfare through regular salary payments, promotion exercises, the resuscitation of the N25,000 wage award and capacity-building programmes.
Fashina, however, appealed for additional welfare interventions to address transportation and accommodation challenges confronting workers.
She urged civil servants to reciprocate the government’s support through dedication, integrity and professionalism.
Of the 57 award recipients drawn from the junior, senior and management cadres across ministries, departments and agencies, the Office of the Surveyor-General emerged as the Most Outstanding Agency, while Emmanuel Alayande University of Education was named the Most Outstanding Institution of the Year 2025.
Dignitaries at the event included Deputy Governor Bayo Lawal; former Deputy Governor, Engr. Hamid Gbadamosi; Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Adebo Ogundoyin, represented by Hon. Sunkanmi Babalola; former Speaker, Senator Monsurat Sunmonu; and the Chief Judge of Oyo State, Justice Iyabo Yerima, represented by Justice R. B. Akintola.
Also present were the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Bashorun Akinwole Akinwale; immediate past Head of Service, Mrs Olubunmi Oni; Deputy Chief of Staff, Hon. Kazeem Adeniyi; commissioners, local government chairmen, permanent secretaries, labour leaders and other dignitaries.
The statement was signed by Dr Sulaimon Olanrewaju, Special Adviser (Media) to the Governor of Oyo State, on November 11, 2026.
