Category: Politics

Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha and Senator Chris Anyanwu are respected leaders of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA). But there are indications that they are not the best of friends. The tension between the “Abuja politicians” and “home-based politicians” has always been high. Other APGA chieftains are worried over the feud between the two prominent politicians.

Last week, the governor and the senator from Owerri Senatorial Zone were locked in a show of might and political relevance. It was the climax of the cold war and power game that has polarised the state.

Observers attribute the feud to the 2015 governorship contest. The senator is said to be eyeing the governorship. Okorocha is interested in a second term.

The convoys of the two eminent politicians nearly collided in Owerri, the state capital. One of the senator’s drivers was injuried in the accident. Both politicians have been trading blames since the incident.

Sources said there has not been no love lost between the two politicians. It was gathered that the governor’s camp has been nursing animosity against Senator Anyanwu over her ambition to contest the governorship in 2015.

According to the sources, the legislator has been oiling her political machinery. She also appears to be enjoying commensurate acceptance from key members of APGA, who are more favorably disposed to the idea of replacing the governor – if he joins the presidential race.

However, the Special Assistant to the Governor on Media, Mr Ebere Uzoukwa, ruled out any political undertone to the incident. He blamed the senator for constituting a serious security breach which compromised the personal safety of the governor. He called for an investigation into the collision on the highways.

He exonerated the governor, saying: “The senator’s vehicle suddenly rammed into the governor’s convoy close to the staff car, cutting off the lead security vehicle after overtaking dangerously and in a very suspicious manner, and the security men did what was necessary to save the life of the governor.

“Danger was, however, averted as a result of high level of professionalism displayed by the armed men, who ignored the provocation of the senator, who ordered her Navy security orderlies to open fire on the governor’s convoy after she had slapped the Aide-de-Camp (ADC)”.

Okorocha, in his New Year message, has forgiven the erring senator.

“His Excellency is a man of peaceful disposition. He does not harbour ill-thoughts against anyone and, as such, he has forgiven the senator, but asked her to apologise for her wrongs”.

Supporters of the senator disagreed with the governor’s aide, saying that he is politically intolerant.

The ruling party, APGA, to which both politicians belong, backed Okorocha against the lawmaker, explaining that the actions of the embattled legislator amounted to gross disrespect for the exalted office of the governor.

The state chairman of the party, Prince Okafor Anyanwu, said: “Senator Anyanwu, has the antecedent of disrespecting her elders and constituted authorities.”

The senator took exception to the virulent attack against her.

The party chairman, however, added:“It is on record that the senator had a similar encounter with former Governor Ikedi Ohakim, and on another occasion, fought Chief Innocent Nwoga, a PDP chieftain”.

Anyanwu described the governor as “a man too frightened to tell the truth about simple matters. This incident is a message to the governor. He can’t be brutalising the people that he is elected to serve and protect and hide behind propaganda and lies. All lies being fabricated to mask the truth of his brutality are doing him indelible harm”.

Describing the incident as unfortunate, Anyanwu, who addressed newsmen in her home in Owerri, observed that the actions of the governor’s security men were frightening and brutish, adding that she had been harassed, intimidated and threatened in the past.

Giving a graphic detail of the clash between her convoy and the governor’s security men, Anyanwu said: “My day started around 9.30am when I visited the governor at the Government House on Tuesday to exchange pleasantries and he asked if I have adequate security and I said ‘yes’, after which I left for my home town, Mbaise.

“When we got to Azara Egbelu, on the ever-busy Owerri/Umuahia road, we heard siren coming behind us and when it was louder, we parked to allow the convoy to pass, but surprisingly, the approaching convoy, which comprised truck loads of armed and stern looking men, double crossed us and pulled out two of my drivers and dragged them into the bush where they were mercilessly beaten and left with broken skull and bruises.

“When I could not bear it any more, I rushed out of my car with bare feet and started shouting:’I am Senator Chris Anyanwu, please don’t kill my driver!’ But one of the armed men charged at me and threatened to shoot me for running into the governor’s convoy. When that was happening, the governor was in his car with the glass down and I heard him shout at his security men to disarm my orderlies”.

Anyanwu, who is the Senate Committee Chairman on Navy, described the governor’s action as “a misplaced show of power”. She said: “ The power of the state governor is so enormous and you don’t need to intimidate, harass or kill your people to assert your powers as a governor.

“I am tired of all these abuses and harassment in this state. It is not only in Imo State that they have female legislators. If they could do this to me, what will happen to the ordinary people? This has to stop”.

The senator’s aide, Chief Obinna Ibe, said: “The governor’s brutality to the legislator was not the first of its kind.

“Barely three months after his victory, the governor instructed his men to attack one of the drivers for parking a car belonging to the senator inside his compound.

“The governor’s police detail broke a bottle and used it to cut the lips of the driver. Till today, the boy’s upper lip is deformed. We covered it for him then. But this time, he cannot hide behind the shield of folk hero. He has opened himself up by his propaganda. Now the world is seeing the real man behind the angelic smile.”

Ibe added:“The senator has deliberately avoided joining issues with the state government, even though things are not going well in the state and concentrated on her legislative duties, but the recent incident was an attempt by the governor to assert his powers as the owner of the state, which no one is disputing. It was an unfortunate incident.”

He also frowned at the position of APGA on the matter, saying that it was biased. Ibe said: “We know that the state chairman was not the legitimate chairman of the party, but was handpicked by Okorocha and his actions and utterances cannot be anything less than biased. How can you pass judgment before setting up a committee to look into the matter? It shows that you have formed your opinion without availing the other party the opportunity of fair hearing”.

A political analyst, Nze Duru Dikeocha, who expressed worry at the lingering feud, said that the increasing recklessness of the governor’s security men is a pointer to what to expect in the forthcoming general elections.

He said: “This singular attack on the senator by the security details to the governor, with Okorocha subtly aiding it with his silence and other cases of human right abuses perpetrated by his security aides against perceived enemies of the administration, pose great challenge to free and fair elections in the state and the nation’s democracy.”

Some politicians also chided the senator for what they described as her disrespect for the office of the governor. They were of the view that a governorship aspirant should respect the occupant of the position she aspires to occupy in the future.

However, observers contend that the APGA family is unable to manage its political success in Imo State. Political foes are scheming the downfall of the ruling party.Instead of forging unity, the fold is gradually being polarised. If reconcioliation fails, it portends danger for the party in 2015.

A glimpse into what the 2015 general elections may likely portend will be at play a year earlier when three states-Anambra, Ekiti and Osun would hold fresh governorship elections. Remi Adelowo, in this report, previews the leading candidates in the race and the factors that would determine the outcome of the polls

Some the third quarter of 2013, campaign for the governorship elections in Anambra, Ekiti and Osun states would be the main issue in the nation’s political discourse.

Consequent upon the nullification of some governorship election results and the declaration of petitioners as duly elected governors by election tribunals across the country, the electoral calendar as spelt out by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in which elections are uniformly conducted across the country, has given way to staggered elections in some states of the federation.

Anambra, Ekiti and Osun states fall into this category. While the governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, is effectively ruled out of the race, having completed his two terms in office, governors Kayode Fayemi and Rauf Aregbesola of Ekiti and Osun states respectively, will, as it is strongly speculated, be seeking fresh mandates in office.

A battle royale in Anambra

From all indications, it appears the ruling All progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has a big battle on its hands to retain the governorship seat come 2014.

Unlike in 2006 and 2010 when Obi’s APGA assumed power without much ado, the situation seems dicey this time around, with other major political parties, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), gaining substantial grounds in the last four years.

Currently, Obi is, unarguably, the only governor whose party does not boast of a single senator in the state he has presided over in the last six years. In the three senatorial zones of the state, ACN’s Dr. Chris Ngige represents the Central Senatorial Zone at the Senate, while PDP has Dr. Andy Uba and Mrs. Margery Okadigbo representing the South and North senatorial zones respectively.

With the unresolved personality ‘war’ between the National Chairman of the party, Chief Victor Umeh and Obi, coupled with other internal crises that have bedeviled the party in the last two years, analysts posit that the prospects of a fragmented APGA appears likely in the 2014 election.

Who flies APGA’s ticket?

Perhaps as deference to the incumbent governor, no one has indicated an interest in the governorship race within his party. What more, the governor, according to sources, has kept his plans on who would succeed him close to his chest.

APGA, however, does not lack governorship materials within its fold. Until the recent controversies involving him, ranging from his brushes with government agencies over alleged multi-billion naira debts to several banks, and public spats with Coscharis boss, Chief Cosmos Maduka, over a business deal gone sour, the Managing Director, Capital Oil and Gas, Ifeanyi Ubah’s name has been bandied around within the Anambra political circles as a leading aspirant in the race. Whether the young businessman will proceed with his alleged plans to contest the governorship in spite of his present travails remains a matter of conjecture.

Beside Ubah, another name that has been mentioned lately is Chief Annie Okonkwo. A former senator and member of PDP, Okonkwo defected to APGA after he failed to secure a senatorial ticket in his former party. Convener of C-21, a pan Igbo political group, Okonkwo is yet to indicate his interest in the race.

Ngige as ACN’s rallying point

Will Senator Chris Ngige contest the Anambra governorship for the third time in 2014? Sources disclosed to The Nation that majority of ACN members are rooting for the former governor to throw his hat into the ring once again.

Their belief, it was learnt, is that Ngige remains a formidable figure in ACN with the name and stature to give the candidates of the other major parties in Anambra a run for their money at the polls.

Many prominent indigenes of the state are already calling on Ngige to contest, one of whom include Chief Ben Obi, the Special Adviser on Intra Party Affairs to President Goodluck Jonathan. But will Ngige hearken to this call? The answer will be provided in the next couple of months.

PDP not left out

The race on who would pick the PDP governorship ticket in Anambra State begins later next year, with prominent stakeholders of the party in the state poised to succeed Obi. Among the leading aspirants include former presidential aide, Senator Andy Uba (who had a brief stint as governor in 2007), Dr. Alex Obiagbolu, an Onitsha-based medical doctor and former Chairman, Anambra Local Government Service Commission, Mrs. Joy Emordi, Presidential Adviser on National Assembly Matters, amongst others.

In Osun, it’s Aregbesola versus others

Still pained by its loss of the governorship seat to the ACN, the Osun State chapter of PDP is already gearing up for the 2014 election.

Expectedly, the party is not in short supply of governorship aspirants. Leading the race for the party’s ticket is Senator Iyiola Omisore and a former Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Fatai Akinbade.

But with the structures of the PDP in the state believed to be controlled by Omisore’s acolytes, the former senator is allegedly the man to beat in the party.

Regardless of whom the PDP puts forward as its candidate, incumbent governor, Rauf Aregbesola, according to keen watchers of Osun politics, looks certain to get another mandate on account of his achievements so far.

Fayemi ready for PDP challenge in Osun

Though he has not declared his interest in seeking re-election, Ekiti State governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, according to sources, looks a sure bet to win the ACN ticket for the 2014 elections.

But within the main opposition party in the state, PDP, there is a list of aspirants jostling to slug it out with Fayemi at the polls.

They include a former governor, Mr. Ayo Fayose, Senator Ayo Arise, Mr. Yemi Adeyeye and Senator Gbenga Aluko, whose entry into the race has added a new interesting dimension to the contest.

With the Governor Danbaba Suntai away in Germany, being treated for the injury he sustained when the plane he was piloting crashlanded near Yola, the state’s capital, on October 25, 2012, and his deputy, Alhaji Garba Umar, acting as the Chief Executive of the state, political gladiators in Taraba State, especially within the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), are now engaged in a battle of wits ahead of the 2015 general election.

The state has been thrown into political turmoil since Suntai was rushed to a German hospital. First was the botched attempt to prevent Umar, a known Suntai ally, from being sworn in as Acting Governor. The invasion of the deputy governor’s lodge by a band of urchins on the eve of the swearing-in was alleged to have been instigated by politicians opposed to the administration.

In spite of obvious discontent in some quarters, the state assembly, citing the recently-amended Section 190 of the 1999 Constitution, approved his ascension. Had the section not been amended, the Assembly would have been at a loss over what to do with the unexpected absence of the governor.

Following the inability to prevent Umar from taking office, anti-Suntai forces in the state are said to have resolved to prevent the emergence of an ally or associate of the governor from emerging as governor during the 2015 governorship election in the state.

Suntai’s present condition merely added to the political turmoil in the polarised state. Since he made up his mind to seek a second term contrary to the desire of his erstwhile godfather and leaders, Suntai has been governing a politically divided state, with even his party divided into at least six factions.

It is also on record that the state civil service and leading labour unions are divided into camps. While some are staunchly behind the governor, others are with his political opponents within and outside the ruling party.

Sources within the party say those opposed to Suntai now see his unfortunate condition as an opportunity to move swiftly and dislodge his political family from the corridor of power in the state.

“You will recall that the politics of the state, even within the ruling PDP is divided along a straight line. Those for the governor and those against him are in opposing camps. Now that he is incapacitated, his allies are in charge of the state machinery and his opponents want them out. Both camps are focused on the 2015 election, whether Suntai makes it back or not.

“Yes, he will not be seeking another term but his men want to remain in charge. He was up against very formidable forces before his accident. Remember he dared his godfather, Rev. Jolly Nyame, to win the second term in office. He is fighting Senators Alhassan and Tutare among others. Now they are bent on exploiting the current situation against him and his camp,” a source said.

To confirm the above, several political activities have been held in the state by the various camps for and against the governor’s interest. So charged is the political atmosphere in the state that people are wondering if an election is underway in Taraba this year.

“Even in an election year, it cannot be more than this,” another source, who claimed to have attended five political activities in one week, said.

At one of such political events, the Senator representing Taraba North Senatorial District, Aisha Jumai Alhassan, advised ailing Governor Danbaba Danfulani Suntai to apologise to the people of the state “for the wrongs he has done them”, saying his survival was a divine intervention to make him apologise and seek forgiveness from Tarabans.

The event was held at her home near the Presidential Lodge, Jalingo, the state capital. “God has given him (Suntai) a chance to apologise. When he comes back, he should seek forgiveness from the people of Taraba for all the wrongs and injustices he has done to the state and its people.”

The senator has been an opponent and critic of the Suntai administration. She often said the governor was surrounded by crooks and once petitioned the national secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on the governor’s alleged anti-democratic practices within the party.

She is also rumoured to be nursing a gubernatorial ambition come 2015. Her face-off with the governor has seriously polarised the ruling party given that the two had worked together prior to the 2011 general election to dislodge Nyame from the party.

At another function, former governor, Rev. Jolly Tavuro Nyame, condemned what he called the intolerance of the Suntai camp and urged the Suntai administration to reabsorb the PDP members it allegedly sacked for attending opposition events.

“One of the events in question was a wedding ceremony, which anybody could attend. But some people were sacked from office for attending the event, because it was organised by Senator Alhassan.

I am advising that those people must be returned to their jobs. Otherwise, only God knows. Some people have done more wrongs to the people of this state, but they were not sacked from office,” Nyame said.

The former governor led Taraba for 10 years and ensured that Suntai succeeded him. But both are no longer on good terms and Nyame’s effort to return to the PDP which he dumped to pitch his tent with the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has largely been made difficult by Suntai and his men.

Another heavyweight politician currently up in arms against Suntai’s interest is Abubakar Umar Tutare, Senator for the Taraba Central Constituency of the state. Sources say Tutare, who was a representative in the Taraba State House of Assembly for two terms, as well as Commissioner for the Finance, Commerce and Works ministries of the state, and finally, Secretary to the State Government (SSG) under Nyame, allegedly wants to get back at Suntai for opposing his senatorial ambition in 2011.

It would be recalled that Tutare had won the January 2011 PDP primaries to be the party’s candidate in the April 2011 elections and was accepted as candidate by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). However, the PDP leadership decided to retain the then incumbent senator, Dahiru Bako, as candidate. This led to crisis in the party as Tutare insisted on his mandate. He openly disagreed with Suntai, who he said was behind his travail.

On April 1, 2011, a Federal High Court sitting in Yola declared that Tutare was the lawful candidate. INEC declared Tutare the winner of the April elections with 126,165 votes, ahead of Abubakar Ahmed Rufi of the CPC with 25,900 and Mustapha JH. Gambo of the ACN with 11,816.

Both the governor and the senator have been at loggerhead ever since. Sources claim Tutare, who is bent on returning to the senate in 2015, is working for the governorship ambition of another lawmaker who is also opposed to the administration of ailing Suntai.

So intense were the political moves in the state that the Taraba chapter of PDP had to warn its members to desist from holding meetings ahead of 2015 elections as such action is against party guidelines.

Victor Bala Kona, the state Chairman of the party, gave the warning in a speech he delivered at a party stakeholder’s forum in Jalingo. He said it had been brought to the notice of the party that some members have been holding meetings in Abuja and other parts of the country ahead of the 2015 elections.

Mr. Kona said that a disciplinary committee had been constituted to try any member who contravenes the provisions of the PDP constitution, adding that the party is above any member or group, irrespective of his or her position in the society.

Mr. Bala explained that the party is working at reconciling all aggrieved members to restore the confidence reposed in the executive and to eliminate negative perception. He added that the prime agenda of the present leadership in the last nine months had been to fine-tune and entrench new vision, for dynamic political awareness.

The meeting was attended by all party chairmen from the 16 councils, present and past members of the state executive council and the legislators. The state’s Acting Governor, Garba Umar, who was also in attendance, expressed appreciation to the party leadership for the directive.

Aside the fierce power play within the ruling party, there are other burning issues concerning the next gubernatorial election in the state. One of such is the agitation by the muslim minority in the state to produce the governor.

But Christians, who believe they have the numerical edge over their Muslim brothers, have also been scheming how Suntai would successfully hand over the baton of power to another Christian in 2015.

However, with the emergence of Umar as Acting Governor, following Suntai’s accident, the Muslim minority feels it is their opportunity to make a bold dash for the plum job. And this could just be the truth because if Suntai’s time to recover takes too long, Umar would also be sworn in as governor.

And if he contests for the position as a sitting governor, his chances of becoming the first Muslim governor of the predominantly Christian state would be very high. These are the calculation of his people, the Muslim minority ahead of the 2015 governorship election.

There are also talks about an ethnic colouration to the development. The state, which is made up of about a dozen ethnic groups, has only been ruled by two ethnic groups, namely the Mumuye and the Chamba.

Former Jolly Nyame, a Mumuye, ruled the state and handed over to Suntai of Chamba extraction. Already, the political atmosphere in Taraba is charged, with aspirants from clans like the Kuteb, Kona, Fulani, Wurukun, Ichen etc, clamouring for the position to be zoned to them.

Given the widespread allegations that the Suntai political family has endorsed a candidate of same Mumuye extraction as Jolly Nyame to succeed him when he bows out in 2015, the days ahead are really uncertain in the aftermath of the governor’s plane crash.

The Nigerian Civil Service is at the crossroads. Unlike previous dispensations, when it was relied upon for efficient implementation of government projects, the sub-executive arm of the government  is perceived by many Nigerians as a bastion of corruption and an appendage of political parties.  Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU reports.

Are civil servants adding adequate value to governance across the federal, state and local government? Stakeholders who have beamed a searchlight on the civil service are not convinced that it is not hampered by the ‘Nigeria factor’. They also point out that the bane of the civil service includes its lack of political neutrality, its loss of craftsmanship and creativity, redundancy and infiltration of ghost workers. They contented that the civil service is not insulated from the rot that has enveloped the entire society.

“It is embroiled in politics and corruption”, said a commentator, Achike Chude, who painted an awful picture of a civil service in distress. “Civil servants are now bereft of ideas, initiative and statecraft,” he lamented. A unionist, Chijoke Ejiofor, who shared the same feeling, frowned at the inefficiency typical of the Nigeria Civil Service, saying that it has affected effective and efficient execution of projects. “This is not the era of generalists, but specialists. But our civil service is not along that line of specialisation. Like their ministers, many civil servants cannot properly discharge their functions because of lack of skills. Some ministers are also not fit for some ministries. There is need for expertise in public administration and this is only noticeable in the ministries of justice, health and finance”, he added.

Recently, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Lamido Sanusi called for the reduction of the public labour size. He claimed that it is not economically wise to spend huge sums on the large civil service, to the detriment of the economy. “I advised the government to sack 50 per cent of the civil servants and they are calling for my removal. If another CBN governor comes and he is honest, he will give the same advice. Any economy that spends the bulk of its revenue on the tiny minority can only solve the short-term problems of the few. I spoke from the point of view of economics”, Sanusi said.

Other analysts have an axe to grind with the fixated civil servants. They criticise them for not recognising their limitations as part of the executive arm. An economist and politician, Isiaka Adekunle-Ibrahim, frowned at the typical Nigerian civil servants who adorned governor’s badge in Ogun State between 2003 and 2011. “You see civil servants abdicating their duties and appearing in party t-shirts in many states. Political campaigns are incomplete without them”, he complained. “Civil servants are no longer attractive to young graduates and few of them who find themselves there have no choice because they want to escape the biting effects of unemployment”, he said.

Apart from poor execution of government projects, which is at the root of poor budgetary implementation and failure, the civil service has been aiding and abetting corruption across the tiers. In recent times, top public officers have been accused of embezzling gratuities and pensions of senior colleagues who had retired from service. They have also come under attack for deliberately misleading their ministers into taking some steps that were not in line with national interest. They understand the system more than the ministers and they are insulated from punitive measures arising from the minister’s purported misconduct. A case in point was the sack of the former health Minister, Prof. Adenike Grange, and Minister of State, Chief Gabriel Duku, for taking some actions on unspent ministry money that later backfired, based on civil servants’ advise. The court later cleared them of wrongdoing, but they ceased to be ministers. In other ministries, when ministers and commissioners violate laid down rules, civil servants are aloof and the acts of the non-permanent supervising commissioners and ministers become license for them to commit impunity. In the language of bureaucracy, they are shielded from blame. In other ministries, civil servants aid and abet corruption because no single penny can be wrongly removed from government coffers without the connivance of civil servants.

Efforts to reform the civil service may not have yielded enough dividends. Thus, as from 1975, a virile, dynamic and result-oriented civil service had eluded the nation. Adebo Commission (1970), Udoji Commission (1972) Dotun Philips Panel (1985) and Ayida Committee (1988) had recommended ways of rationalising and rewarding the civil service. The current civil service is a wide departure from the professionalised and detribalised civil service of Chief Simeon Adebo, Cornelius Taiwo, Saburi Baubaku and Chief Augustus Adebayo days in the Western region. Neither can the current crop of Permanent Secretaries of display the guts of Allison Ayinda, Ahmed Joda, Philip Asiodu, and Azeez Attah, who were rated as ‘Super Permanent Secretaries”. Since their departure from the civil service, the culture of development plans fizzled out. In that era, civil servants were enjoyed permanence in office and anonymity as public officials. They were expected to be politically neutral and impartial and they possessed expertise and specialised knowledge. Then, the honest, professional and patriotic advice of top civil servants could only be ignored by the government to its detriment. Top bureaucrats also knew their onions. When the former Military Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon (rtd), referred to Ayida as “my Secretary to Government”, the eminent technocrat was said to have rejected the erroneous impression, pointing out that he was not “Secretary to Head of State”, but “Secretary to the Federal Military Government and Head of Service of the Federation”.

In a previous interview, Asiodu, who lamented the 1975 mass purge in the civil service, said the military spearheaded the collapse of the civil service in the country. No fewer than 11,000 civil servants lost their jobs in the mass purge. Also, in 1984, another 3,000 civil servants were relieved of their their appointments by Buhari Administration. The indiscriminate sack, he recalled, sent civil servants jittery, and henceforth, they started to cut corners, thereby making the service a bastion of corruption. Chude agreed with him. In addition, he recalled that the military also started the politicisation of the service under Babangida Regime. “They appointed Director-Generals to replace Permanent Secretaries. The Director-Generals who became accounting officers were political appointees. The appointments were not based on merit and seniority”, he explained. Chude also lamented that various civil service reforms, including the ones initiated by Udoji Committee, Orosanye Committee and others have failed to repositioned the civil service.

But civil servants who are accused of laziness, indolence, loitering, lack of initiative, red tapism, lateness to office, absenteeism, and inefficiency also have their grudges against the government. In some states, salaries of public servants are not paid regularly. The battle over the living minimum wage has been fought, but it has not been won by workers. Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President Waheed Omar complained that workers are denied the benefit of labour by government, whose political functionaries smile home with fat monthly emoluments. He said the fuel price hike has wiped out the gains of the so-called minimum wage.

Labour has also blamed the rot in the civil service on the manner of recruitment and choice of contractors, which are not done based on merit. In the past, bribery was the main issue. As the livewire of bureaucracy, the civil service is characterised by array an array of rules, which leads to prolonged process of initiating and executing policies and programmes. For example, contractors have to make uncountable visits to the ministry before the payment of money for contracts. This, to analysts, have opened pathways for bribery. Since public administration is also perceived as “no man’s business”, civil servants misuse and mishandle government property without being queried. Now, only candidates of notable politicians are given public sector employment, sometimes through the back door.

A retired civil servant, who is now a politician, narrated how the principle of federal character and quota system have affected efficiency in the civil service. “When I was there, one day, they brought somebody who was my junior in the university to be my boss. There was nothing I could do. They said he was filling the quota of his state. By those of us who were his seniors were demoralised, more so, when he lacked the experience and skill required of him”, he said.

Experts in public administration have described the civil service as a battered institution from the onset. “The Nigerian Civil Service began as a force of occupation designed to facilitate colonial rule and the exploitation of the land and its people for the benefit of the colonial authority”, recalled Adamu Ciroma. “Merit and discipline should never be compromised. Rules should remain sacrosanct. In a modern time, the civil servi should also be dynamic”, he added. Two dons; Tolu Lawal and Abe Oluwatoyin, agreed with him. In their paper titled: “The Civil service and sustainable development in Nigeria”, they pointed out that, while the structure of the civil service was pattered on the British model, it did not produce the same results in Nigeria. Even, when the whites gave way for the indigenous civil servants, following the indigenisation policy, the civil service was not adapted to the needs of country.

One of the fallouts of the policy, which Lawal pointed out, was the rise of unprepared and inexperienced civil servants, who occupied positions that their abilities could not cope with, due to their level of training, experience and qualification. The exception, however, was the defunct Western Region. In the First Republic, the Civil Service was greatly affected by political tension triggered by the tribal parties’ competition for regional and federal power. It was worse in the Second Republic. “The Second Republic politicians were interested in all things that came their way. In fact, it can be simply said that they hijacked policy making and to some extent, policy implementation completely from the civil service. This had demoralising effects on the civil servants as they were not allowed to use their initiative and to provide necessary advice for the country”, Lawal stressed.

Obasanjo Administration which came on board in 1999, tried to revatalise, train and re-train the civil service. The N18, 000 minimum wage later proposed by his successor. However, the living wage issue is still yet to be resolved. Poor remuneration, Lawal said, has exposed civil servants to sharp practices, adding that most of them demand for money before rendering their supposedly service to the public. “Most of them keep business letter-headed papers, invoices receipts of various companies owned by them and become suppliers and contractors, even in their own offices”, he lamented.

Observers have also pointed out that the civil service has failed to adapt to modern trends. The use of old and obsolete equipment is still rampant in government ministries, departments and corporations as exemplified in the use of typewriting machines in this computer age. “The funny aspect of it is that most civil servants are not computer literate. This will affect their efficiency and productivity”, Lawal said.

The researcher offered solution. Abe submitted that the civil service needed training. “The world is dynamic and civil service cannot remain static. It should be the information pool for government and commissioners and ministers should rely on their advice for effective administration”, said Abe. His colleague, Lawal agreed, saying only trained or re-trained civil servants can meet modern expectations.

He also asked civil service to refrain from political partisanship. “The civil service is not and should not be an appendage of political parties. Civil servants should know their limitations. Although they are expected to support the political heads of their ministries, they shouldn’t show political bias towards any party. If civil servants have offered honest advice to politicians and public officers and they have accepted the advice, some of them will not be in jail today”, he added.

A Chieftain of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Oyo State, Alhaji Abass Oloko, has commended the 11 council chairmen in Ibadanland for endorsing the state governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, for the 2015 general election and as the state leader of the party.

Oloko, who made the commendation in a release in Ibadan, stated that the endorsement portrayed the laudable achievements of Ajimobi in the last two years in office, despite the poor financial position of the state.

He said the rampant crises of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) which had claimed so many lives, had been eliminated, with members of the union embracing peace and good co-existence.

Oloko noted that the construction of overhead bridges in notable areas of the state is a pointer to the readiness of Ajimobi to improve infrastructure in the state, adding that the current efforts to sanitize the roads and make the state attractive to investors should be appreciated by all lovers of development.

He commended the governor for supporting the promotion of security through Operation Burst Patrol Team, which has reduced crime in the state to the barest minimum.

“The state will continue to witness tremendous development in all areas, if people maintain their support for the governor in his sincere desire to positively transform the state and make it the best in the country. I therefore, support the endorsement of Governor Ajimobi as the state leader and the sole governorship contender in the 2015 general election under ACN,” Oloko said.