The Nation Newspaper

Tag: perm sec

  • How pressure on public officials fuels corruption, by outgoing Perm Sec

    Outgoing Permanent Secretary of Foreign Affairs Ministry Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye has blamed financial pressure on public officials for the high rate of corruption.

    Enikanolaiye, therefore, urged Nigerians to stop mounting financial pressure on public officers, if the country is to win the war against corruption.

    He spoke at the weekend in Abuja during the sendoff party held in his honour.

    He stressed the need to join hands with the government to rid public service of corrupt practices.

    The retired permanent secretary explained that corruption thrives in many public offices because of how people make unnecessary requests from public officials.

    He said many public servants fall under the pressure from friends, acquaintances and sometimes, unknown people, who make unnecessary demands from them.

    “Nigerians should not try to mount too much pressure on public servants. The expectations are simply too much and too many expect you to give them cash, give them jobs and to help solve all sorts of problems.

    “People you never met before, they don’t know you, they just got your phone numbers and began to call that: ‘I want to get marry’, ‘I want to pay some fees’, ‘I want to do this and that; all sorts of thing.

    “I wonder how you want a permanent secretary or public officials to get that kind of money.

    “We are fighting corruption; Nigerians must join in the fight by not putting too much pressure on public servants, thereby encouraging them to look for all means to meet those high expectations,” he said.

    Enikanolaye said he was able to succeed in his 35 years of service in the ministry because of commitment and discipline, which he enjoined other public officials to imbibe.

  • EFCC’s probe: NBET MD implicates Perm Sec

    EFCC’s probe: NBET MD implicates Perm Sec

    Worried by the ongoing probe by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc( NBET) Dr. Marylin Amobi has raised the alarm that a Federal Permanent Secretary is putting her under pressure.

    She said the Permanent Secretary wanted her  to pay N248million to a consulting firm, in which her sister has interest, to facilitate the conclusion of Bond and Promissory Notes for the agency.

    She also said the Permanent Secretary has been trying to force her to resign based on the alleged instructions of the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.

    But she said she told the affected Permanent Secretary that she would not be bullied to quit office unless directed by the presidency.

    Amobi, who made the submissions in an Executive Summary sent to the presidency, asked the Acting President to urgently constitute the board of NBET.

    The Federal Executive had early in the year approved a Power Sector Recovery Plan to look for an alternative all-inclusive strategy for addressing the liquidity crisis facing the power Generating Companies( GENCOS) in the country.

    The recovery plan was designed to avert the total collapse of the electricity sector because many Distribution Companies ( DISCOS) have not been able to meet their financial obligations to GENCOS.

    Some of the liquidity sources being considered are getting a consulting firm to secure Bond and Promissory Notes; approval by the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN) for a loan of N701billion under a “payment assurance programme; and an utilized $350million loan which has been hidden in an account.

    But the NBET boss said the affected Permanent Secretary has preference for “Power Sector Bond/ Promissory Note” through a consulting firm because of personal interest.

    She said the Permanent Secretary wanted her to pay N248million to the consulting firm to facilitate the conclusion of Bond and Promissory Notes for the electricity sector.

    She said it was difficult to comply with the directive of the Permanent Secretary because it was an unjustifiable  payment.

    The Executive Summary reads in part: “ I came under pressure yet again to do the following:

    1. Reconnect with the consulting firm to steer forward the conclusion of the Bond and Promissory Notes products for the electricity sector; and
    2. To pay a sum of N39M or N2248M to MT Consulting, as outstanding consultancy fees for what I consider as an unjustifiable payment for the work that they had done before I joined the organisation, that involved the development of the abandoned financial product.

    “When I protested to the PS about this, he engaged me by email on an allegation that the NASS was investigating a petition on a consultancy work NBET gave to an Engineer, which in his allegation was the same as the work the consulting firm had done. It is to be noted that the NASS confirmed to me a few days thereafter that they did not receive any petition as the PS had alluded.

    “At the kick off meeting that I had with the Permanent Secretary on the 19th of August  2016, I reiterated some of the concerns that I had with the Bond issuance to him.

    “ And he assured me that he understood my concerns, would support me to review the work NBET had already done on the product and make what I consider would be the best decision in the circumstance.

    “He did not tell me that he had an interest in the initiative and was the lead consultant and the face of the consulting company at the conceptualisation stages or that his sister is the MD / CEO the company. I learned that at the interrogatory session that the House Committee on Power conducted a few days after I resumed work as the MD / CEO at NBET.

    “However, the relevance of my concerns regarding the integrity of these matters soon disappeared after the National Assembly (NASS) launched an investigation into the matter in September 2016; and ruled that there was an “attempted fraud” at NBET.

    “Furthermore, they ordered that the Procurement Department that was previously under the Human Resources Department, be placed under the Office of the MD / CEO and that I penalised the staff who were culpable for the attempted fraud.”

  • Aregbesola visits family of slain perm sec

    Aregbesola visits family of slain perm sec

    •Governor: Osun has lost committed officer

    Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has said the death of the Permanent Secretary at the Bureau of General Services in the Governor’s Office, Mrs Olufunke Oluwakemi Kolawole, is a big loss to the state’s civil service.

    A statement by the Director of the Bureau of Communication and Strategy, Semiu Okanlawon, said the governor spoke during his condolence visit to the family of the slain permanent secretary.

    Mrs Kolawole was reportedly killed last Thursday by suspected abductors on her way to Abuja.

    Aregbesola noted that the death of Mrs Kolawole was not only shocking but left a huge vacuum in the state’s civil service.

    The governor, who described the late permanent secretary as a great woman of virtues, added that she was loyal and dedicated.

    He said the late Mrs Kolawole used her position to impact humanity.

    According to him, death is a misery no one wants.

    Aregbesola said: “It is a phenomenon that everyone hates. But because God has destined man to die, we all reconcile with death.

    “It behoves on every mortal to always be conscious of the end-day and know that it is God that gives and takes at any time.

    “Mrs Kolawole’s death is not only a rude shock to us as government but also a great misfortune at a time her quality services are needed most.

    “Her sudden death is shocking, unfortunate and calamitous to the state and the civil service in particular. She was known to be a committed, dedicated and loyal civil servant who was never found wanting in her professional role to the people.

    “She was a great woman. She was a committed being; a woman of courage and a loyal civil servant. She was diligent and upright to duty. This could be seen in her character of leaving office late, sometimes 12 a.m, sometimes 1 a.m. In fact, she worked round the clocks oftentimes.

    “I knew the late Mrs Kolawole as a very hardworking woman who had never been derelict from duty.”

    Commiserating with the family of the deceased, Aregbesola said: “I share your grieves, I share your pains and sorrows at the critical times.

    “I also share the feelings of despondency in those that saw the deceased as a source of their livelihood. But one couldn’t but take solace in the enormity of the consequences of her sudden death.

    “The news of her death was broken at a time the state was still nursing the transition of the wife of the former governor, Mrs Omowumi Akande…”

    Health Minister, Prof Isaac Adewole, who joined the governor with other permanent secretaries and members of the State Executive Council (Exco), prayed for the family of the deceased.

  • Osun Perm Sec abducted, murdered in Kogi

    Osun Perm Sec abducted, murdered in Kogi

    The permanent secretary Osun state bureau of general services,Mrs Olufunke Kolawole, has been killed following her abduction on her way to Abuja on an official assignment .

    Mrs.Kolawole and her official driver had run into the kidnappers along the Okene-Abuja highway in Kogi state on Thursday.

    The driver,it was gathered,had tried to maneuver out of the situation only for the gunmen to open fire on the car.

    They reportedly caught up with the car and took her away with her gunshot injury.

    The director of the bureau of communication and strategy in the office of the governor, Semiu Okanlawon,confirmed Mrs. Kolawole’s death which he said was a rude shock.

    The state government commiserated with the bereaved family ,the entire public service and the state government of Osun “on this irreparable loss.”

    Sunday Owoeye, head of service in the state, also lamented over the loss.

    “On behalf of the forum of head of service and permanent secretaries, tutors-general, accountant-general, auditors-general and surveyor-general, and with rude shock and a deep sense of loss, I hereby painfully announce the untimely death of Mrs. Olufunke Oluwakemi Kolawole who was brutally attacked by kidnappers while travelling along Okene – Abuja highway on her way to Abuja on Thursday, 13th July, 2017 for an official assignment.”

  • Why ambassadors are yet to be deployed, by perm sec

    THE forty-four career ambassadors-designate approved by the Senate are yet to resume at their respective countries of accreditation, it was learnt yesterday.

    The ambassadors have since been deployed, but could not report at their stations as a result of the non-arrival of the consent documents (agreement/agreemo) from their host countries.

    The agreement or agreemo is consent to the proposed ambassador deployed to a particular country, or consent from one nation to another agreeing to the appointment of an ambassador or envoy.

    Permanent Secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olusola Enikanolaye, who confirmed the development, assured that the ambassadors would resume when agreements (consent) have been obtained from prospective countries.

    He said: “However, they cannot proceed until we received agreement for all of them – they are about 44 in this category.

    “Agreement have started coming; the agreement are coming in bit by bit. They do not come at the same time.

    “And, once agreement is received for each of them, we will make announcement but we will not make announcement until the countries have given consent, which is agreement.

    “This is where we are. We expected that all of these should be completed in the next couple of weeks,” he said.

    In the case of the non-career ambassadors, the permanent secretary said they were yet to be assigned.

    “That work is in progress. It is almost completed as soon as that is completed the countries to which they have been deployed will be the first to know.

    He said that they would be assigned before the next stage of asking for agreement.

    “Of the three categories of ambassadors that President Muhammadu Buhari approved, it’s only the ones assigned to international organisations like I said New York, Geneva and the AU in Addis Ababa that have been deployed.

    “Prof. Mohammed Tijani, the New Permanent representative in New York has already assumed duty, Ambassador A.A Kadir an ambassador and Permanent Representative in Geneva had submitted his letter of credence and assumed duty.

    “The third one is Ambassador Bankole Adeoye, Permanent Representative to the AU at Addis Ababa is waiting for his agreement to proceed to Addis Ababa,” he said.

     

  • Perm sec’s tenure

    Perm sec’s tenure

    •President Buhari‘s extension is uncalled-for as it violates civil service rules

    THE purported extension of the tenure of Dr Jamila Shu’ara as federal permanent secretary in the Ministry of Education, for a second time, is an avoidable detraction from the avowed integrity of President Muhammadu Buhari’s government. The claim by the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, that the president approved the first extension from February 2016 to February 2017 and has granted another extension in principle, from February 2017 to February 2018, should be thoroughly investigated by the National Assembly, as it amounts to an aberration, to use executive fiat to override the civil service rules, which is a subsidiary legislation.
    In media reports, Mallam Adamu claimed that he has informed the Chief of Staff to the President, Abbah Kyari, that the president has for the second time approved the extension of the tenure of the permanent secretary, and he is now awaiting a formal letter from the head of service, Mrs Winifred Oyo-Ita. He also claimed that since Shu’ara is awaiting a formal letter, she is now a private citizen and as such should not appear before the House of Representatives Committee on Basic Education, which had asked her to appear before it, to show the president’s letter which extended her tenure for the first time.
    According to civil service rules, a civil servant retires from service on the attainment of 60 years of age or after 35 years of service, whichever comes first. Dr Shu’ara, having attained 60 years in 2016, is supposed to have retired. For reasons not in the public domain, the president reportedly extended her tenure by one year, in 2016, and after the expiration of that extension, Mallam Adamu is working for another extension, against the extant civil service rules. Such a trajectory is an embarrassment to the progressive credentials of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
    We hope Mallam Adamu is not using the president’s name and influence to engage in impunity and abuse of public power. Even with all the powers an executive president has, he cannot use administrative fiat to set aside a subsidiary legislation, such as the civil service rules on the tenure of a civil servant. So, the president or other higher officials of state cannot whimsically abrogate or set aside the civil service rules and regulation. If for any reason the president wants to bend the rule for Dr Shu’ara, then such an action has to be gazetted, to give it a cover.
    We urge the president to quickly distance himself from the conduct of Mallam Adamu and his cohorts, who cannot differentiate a civil service from the perks of royalty; otherwise it may be tenable to accuse him of condoning nepotism. We ask, why is the civil service rule being bent in favour of Dr Shu’ara, against the rest of her colleagues, whose opportunity for advancement is being thwarted? The president must remember that he had faced similar accusations in the past, and he has no reason to resurrect such distractions now. The opposition party and their sympathisers see such conduct as a form of corruption.
    Unless for emergency situations, the president should never exercise his privileges to ride roughshod over extant rules and regulations governing a public institution. That is the hallmark of statesmanship. To bow to primordial or parochial sensibilities in the exercise of public power, even when there is room to manoeuvre, belittles the office holder. The president’s conduct is the quintessential bedrock of the exercise of public power, much more than the extant rules and regulations. For, if the majority do not obey rules and regulations wilfully, there will be a breakdown of law and order.

  • Visually impaired becomes perm sec

    The Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD) in Anambra State has hailed the appointment of one of its member as a permanent secretary by Governor Willie Obiano.

    Azuka Ofomata, who is visually impaired, was sworn in yesterday as permanent secretary in the Ministry of Social, Children and Women Affairs.

    Ofomata, a former Director in the Rehabilitation Department, was among the nine sworn in yesterday in Awka, the state capital.

    Others were Linus Nwankwo; Chukwudi Ike; Nneka Ezeanya; Patricia Ezeaku; Emeka Ohuoha; Stephanie Keri-Uzor; Caroline Njaka and Pauline Nwandu.

    In a statement yesterday in Awka by the Chairman and Secretary, Lawrence Nwanolue and Ugochukwu Okeke, the group described the Ofomata as a person with proven records of dedication and diligence.

  • Alleged N2.5m gratification: Court remands Perm Sec in prison

    Alleged N2.5m gratification: Court remands Perm Sec in prison

    A KATSINA State High Court yesterday remanded a Permanent Secretary in the state Civil Service, Sule Yusuf Saulawa, in prison.
    Saulawa was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before Justice Sanusi Tukur on one-count of obtaining by false pretence, contrary to Section 1(1)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act,  2006.
    The accused person allegedly obtained the sum of N2.5million, while he was attached to the office of the Deputy Governor from a complainant, who is the Chairman of Many Agro Allied and Chemical Company Nigeria Limited and Diamond Fertiliser Nigeria Limited, Alhaji Musa Baba.
    The accused person was alleged to have collected the cash on the pretext that it was required for bidding documents that would enable the office award the complainant a contract to supply fertiliser to the state’s local government areas.
    According to a statement by the EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity, the accused person pleaded not guilty to the charge when it was read to him in court.
    The charge read: “You Sule Yusuf Saulawa while being the permanent secretary with the office of the Deputy Governor,  Katsina State,  sometime in 2015 in Katsina, within the Judicial Division of the High Court of Katsina State with intent to defraud falsely obtained from one Alhaji Musa Baba, the Chairman of Many Agro Allied and  Chemical Company Nigeria Limited and Diamond Fertiliser Nigeria Limited the sum of N2,500,000 only by falsely representing that the Office of the Deputy Governor of Katsina State would award him contract for the supply of fertiliser to all the Local Government Areas in the state and asked him to purchase a bidding documents, which would be given to him as soon as he writes a proposal offering best price to the state government which he did, but which you knew to be false and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1 (1)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under section 1(3) of the same Act”.
    The statement  said:  “In view of his plea, the prosecution counsel, Sa’ad Hanafi Sa’ad, requested the court for trial date and also asked that the accused person be remanded in prison custody.
    “However, counsel representing the accused person, Bashir Mohammed, moved a bail application praying the court to admit his client to bail pending the determination of the case.
    “Hanafi objected the bail application on the grounds that the accused person, if granted bail, would likely jump bail because he had once violated the terms of the administrative bail granted to him by the commission.
    Justice Tukur remanded the accused person in prison custody and adjourned the matter to January 6, for ruling on bail application and start of trial.

  • I am still in shock, says first teacher to become Perm Sec in Edo

    I am still in shock, says first teacher to become Perm Sec in Edo

    Before Friday, November 11, Mrs. Obosamwinye Obazee was the Head of Edo State School of the Blind. She was then a level 15 officer. It was the last working day of  Adams Oshiomhole as governor and just like other citizens of the state and teachers, Mrs. Obazee prayed for the incoming administration to provide better welfare package for teachers.

    Unknown to her, Oshiomhole had already provided a package for her. Mrs. Obazee was about going home after making sure the students have left school when she got a strange call from the Edo Government House congratulating her on her new appointment as a Permanent Secretary.

    Her first response was, ‘this is a wrong number’ but the caller impressed on her to come to the Government House immediately for swearing in. She called her husband to accompany her to Government House to ascertain whether the call was genuine and to her surprise, they were ushered into the exco chambers.

    Mrs. Obazee was among the four Permanent Secretaries Oshiomhole appointed before leaving office. The announcement of the appointment was a surprise to all the beneficiaries.

    Others appointed were the Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Mr. Kadiri Bashiru, Mr Anthony Okungbowa of the state Ministry of Justice and Mr. Y. A Imoudu, Chairman, Association of Secondary School Principals.

    They were all between level 14 and 15 in the civil service.

    Speaking at the swearing-in of the four Permanent Secretaries few hours to the end of his tenure, Oshiomhole said he made the appointments to prove that progress in the civil should not be determined by how many years spent but the quality of time devoted to work.

    On the appointment of 46 years old Anthony Okungbowa, the former governor said he worked diligently to ensure the state cases scaled through at the court of law.

    According to Oshiomhole, “I felt this young man should be encouraged. In the face of scarce resources, he made sure our cases were prosecuted. I want other young civil servants to emulate you and work hard. I like stubborn people. You were hardworking and loyal.”

    To the head teacher, Oshiomhole said he wanted to use her to demonstrate that a classroom teacher is not inferior to others in the state employment.

    His words: “I know many of you are shocked by this appointment. It was not based on lobby but to inspire other teachers. I hope your elevation will attract more people to the teaching profession.”

    Speaking on behalf of the new Permanent Secretaries, Kadiri said he was preparing to go to mosque for prayers when somebody called to congratulate him.

    “We must pay you back by gratitude and hardwork. We are yet to come out of the shock about this appointment.”

    At a meeting with the new governor, Godwin Obaseki, Mrs. Obazee said she never dreamt of sitting at a  State Executive Meeting.

    She said the appointment shocked her husband and that she was yet to believe that the promotion was a reality.

  • Ambode swears in perm sec

    Ambode swears in perm sec

    Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode yesterday justified the massive investment to improve educational infrastructure and upgrade the curriculum to meet current realities.
    Ambode spoke at the swearing-in of a Permanent Secretary and Tutor-General for Education District Six, Mrs. Olabisi Olufunmilayo Onadipe, in his office at Alausa, Ikeja.
    He said education remained one of the critical tools to combat poverty and secure a better future for the state and that the massive investment on education architecture and continuous empowering and equipping of teachers were all in a bid to raise the next generation of Lagosians, who will be ready to take on the challenges of the future.
    According to the governor, the government places high emphasis on education. He advised the appointee to see her appointment as very critical to the future progress of the state, and as such, must add value not only to the present administration and the public service, but the state.