Bayelsa Building Secretariat, Providing Housing For Civil Servants — Koku-Obiyai

The Bayelsa State Government has defended the ongoing construction of its nine-storey iconic secretariat and its housing initiatives, insisting that the administration of Governor Douye Diri is addressing both office accommodation and residential needs of civil servants.

The Commissioner for Information, Orientation and Strategy, Hon. Ebiuwou Koku-Obiyai, stated this in a response to criticisms by Mr. Udengs Eradiri, who questioned the rationale behind the secretariat project, arguing that the funds would have been better spent on residential housing for workers, given what he described as adequate office space and poor maintenance of existing facilities.

Koku-Obiyai, however, described the argument as a false choice, maintaining that the state's experience since its creation in 1996 points to a persistent shortage of office accommodation rather than a surplus.

She explained that successive administrations had constructed office annexes to address the growing needs of the civil service, while the demand for a befitting secretariat had remained a recurring concern among workers, particularly during annual Workers' Day celebrations.

According to the commissioner, Governor Diri had explained the rationale for the project during its groundbreaking ceremony on March 1, 2025, at the old secretariat site in Yenagoa.

The governor was quoted as saying that the decision to build a new secretariat was driven by civil servants' repeated requests for adequate office accommodation.

Koku-Obiyai noted that the existing secretariat, whose first blocks were constructed under the military administration of Navy Captain Omoniyi Caleb Olubolade between 1997 and 1998 and completed under subsequent administrations, was originally designed to accommodate a much smaller workforce.

She said the state's civil service had since expanded considerably, citing the 2021 Biometrics Register, which recorded 25,789 officers across 22 ministries.

The commissioner added that the figure was about 27,000 following the government's removal of approximately 28,000 ghost workers from a payroll previously containing about 55,000 names.

She argued that the additional office blocks constructed over the years had been insufficient to meet the growing demand, forcing several ministries to operate from rented buildings scattered across Yenagoa.

According to her, the new N46 billion electronic secretariat is intended to provide a lasting solution to the accommodation challenges and support the transition to a more efficient, technology-driven civil service.

The project, conceived by the Diri administration and being executed by Megastar Technical and Construction Ltd, occupies a 3,675-square-metre footprint, has 155 parking spaces and is scheduled for completion within 24 months.

Koku-Obiyai said the facility was designed to improve productivity and staff welfare through features including a solar-powered electricity system, conference halls, a six-bed sick bay for minor medical cases and a crèche for working parents.

She maintained that inadequate office space, misplaced files and interruptions caused by unreliable power supply could undermine public service delivery and ultimately affect residents seeking government services.

The commissioner also cited remarks by the immediate past Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Didi Walson-Jack, who reportedly commended the project at its groundbreaking for providing public servants with a conducive working environment.

On residential accommodation, Koku-Obiyai dismissed suggestions that the administration was prioritising office construction at the expense of housing, saying the government was pursuing both objectives simultaneously.

She traced the state's housing interventions to previous administrations, noting that the one-bedroom housing scheme at Okaka began under former Governor Goodluck Jonathan.

She also recalled that the administration of former Governor Seriake Dickson constructed 150 housing units at Ayama in Ogbia Local Government Area and 16 blocks comprising 12 flats each at Okaka.

According to her, the Diri administration inherited an abandoned housing estate at Okaka that had become a haven for squatters and an unsafe environment but has since completed 108 housing units and initiated additional projects.

She said the government had also approved the rehabilitation of Old Okaka Road, alongside the provision of internal roads, drainage, water, electricity, perimeter fencing and security infrastructure to support the estate.

While acknowledging that one-bedroom apartments might not adequately serve larger families, the commissioner argued that such housing remained relevant to young graduates, single workers and newly married couples entering the civil service on modest salaries.

She said affordable accommodation close to the workplace could reduce commuting costs and ease the financial burden on young public servants who might otherwise resort to substandard housing far from their offices.

Koku-Obiyai described the 108 housing units as the first phase of a broader programme, adding that the state government had declared a housing sector emergency to accelerate interventions in the sector.

She further disclosed that the Bayelsa State Housing Authority was implementing an owner-occupier programme under which plots had already been allocated to more than 1,000 civil servants.

According to her, the programme is expected to expand opportunities for homeownership, with larger family housing units to be accommodated in subsequent phases.

The commissioner maintained that the state's housing policy should be assessed as an ongoing programme rather than judged solely by the first phase of the Okaka project.

She insisted that the new secretariat and the housing initiatives were complementary interventions designed to improve workers' welfare, strengthen public administration and enhance service delivery.

Koku-Obiyai concluded that the Diri administration was addressing the long-standing demand for adequate office accommodation while also expanding access to residential housing for civil servants.