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Is President Muhammadu Buhari a sectional leader?
While shedding light on the rationale behind that decision, the then presidential spokesperson, Olusegun Adeniyi, said:
“Ordinarily, the Public Service Rule prescribes three years as the maturity period for officers to earn their promotion to the next Grade Level, between GL.08 and GL.14, while the maturity period to move between GL.14 and GL.17 is four years.
“It follows simple logic, therefore, that an officer entering the civil service with a first degree would require a minimum of 27 years to attain the post of director (GL.17), leaving only eight years as maximum number of years that an officer could possibly spend on the two grades of director and permanent secretary.
“Unfortunately, available facts reveal that the records of some officers are not in sync with this model; and the real situation is that there are directors who have spent 10 to 12 years on post and still have more than five years to retirement;
“There are permanent secretaries who have been on the post for more than eight years and still have several years to retire, meaning a large number of hard-working and effective officers who could not be promoted due to lack of vacancies.”
This decision was roundly condemned by the northern oligarchs who were favoured by the status quo because of their rapid promotion to directorship and permanent secretary position.
This bold step is what President Buhari has now reversed via a June 20, 2016 circular suspending the eight-year tenure policy for permanent secretaries and directors in the Federal Civil Service with immediate effect.
The circular was issued to all Ministries, Departments and Agencies by the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita.
This is unfair to those civil servants who have been hoping to take over from their bosses after the expiration of their eight years directorship.
The tenured service that has been suspended was primarily meant “to institute due process in the appointment of directors and permanent secretaries, arrest the succession crisis in the service, create vacancies, reinvigorate the system and boost the morale of qualified and deserving officers”.
The President should therefore rethink this suspension order.
On the whole, Buhari should know that he is the father of Nigeria and should therefore lead the country by ensuring that there is no ethnic or religious dominance.
Jide Ojo; Jide Ojo, jideojong@yahoo.com, 08077787701. Follow me on twitter @jideojong
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