Ondo launches AI system to digitise civil service, pension processing
By Boye Oyeyemi
Ondo State Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has launched an artificial intelligence-powered digital system to automate civil service administration, retirement processing and pension migration in the state.
Known as “Ondo AI,” the platform is designed to provide real-time personnel data, reduce administrative delays and support government decision-making by replacing several manual processes with digital systems.
Speaking at the launch of the Digital Human Resource Management System on Thursday, Aiyedatiwa said the state could no longer operate a modern public service with outdated analogue processes.
“We cannot expect the 21st-century public service to operate an analogue system indefinitely, with systems designed principally for another era. This is the technological era. We cannot remain and be working with an analogue system,” the governor said.
Aiyedatiwa also stressed the importance of accurate data in ensuring effective governance, urging officials responsible for the platform to ensure that only reliable information is uploaded into the system.
“Leadership is about decision-making, and every leader takes decisions based on the information at hand. If the information is accurate, the decision will be near accurate. And if the information is inaccurate, the decision will be false,” he said.
The governor said the digitisation programme would simplify administrative processes, reduce bureaucratic bottlenecks and strengthen institutional memory, while urging civil servants to embrace the reform despite possible challenges during implementation.
In his remarks, the Head of Service, Chief Segun Odusanya, said the platform would improve personnel records, workforce planning and staff management, while the Managing Director of SmartApps IT Limited, Godwin Odoma, said it would automate payroll and retirement processes, allow workers to access payslips and notify government when officers approach retirement, helping to reduce delays in pension migration.
