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Tag: Tenure

  • Taraba Assembly reduces local govt tenure to two years

    Taraba Assembly reduces local govt tenure to two years

    Ahead of Saturday Local Government elections in Taraba, the state House of Assembly has hastily amended the Taraba State Local Government Law to reduce the tenure of elected officials from three years to two years.

    The Chairman House Committee on Information, Nelson Len, while reacting to questions about the close door session conducted by the House some days ago, said the new law would be binding on the new local government officials that would emerge on Saturday.

    He said: “The Law is simple. It talks about the local government elections and the tenure of the elected officials of the local government. It was an amendment from three years to two years.We needed to amend it to a new one so that it can be binding on those that would be elected.”

    On why the sitting was done under close door, the lawmaker said it was due to the strike action by the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN), which paralyzed activities.

    He added that due process was followed towards the passage of the Law in the open chamber.

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    “We had our normal sitting two days ago and it is just our constitutional duties we went to perform. We had a serious business which concerns state matters. Just because we needed time to go through those bills, we went to the House earlier than usual. That was what transpired, there was nothing extraordinary.

    “We had bills that were already laid before the House and we needed to consider those bills to make sure that we passed them so that they can be assented to. As I speak to you we had our sitting today and we took the third reading of one of those bills and it has been passed into law. We are waiting for the governor so that he can give assent to the bill. It is a bill for Local Government administration tenure. You are aware that the local government elections are around the corner and for such a bill to be pending, it would jeopardize the good intentions of the governor. That is why we had to give ourselves enough time to see how we can pass that bill,” he said.

  • Needless controversy about tenure policy in the public service

    Needless controversy about tenure policy in the public service

    • By Victor Mayomi

    The on-going controversy about the tenure policy in the federal bureaucracy is needless. It is deeply concerning, however, given that when a society, or an institution, decides to lie to itself instead of operating within the nexus of grace, honour, candour and truth, its integrity will be questioned. I earnestly hope that the Federal Civil Service is not going in this wrong direction, on account of the alleged re-introduction of the tenure policy, based on an unproven claim that the policy was approved by the Federal Executive Council in July 2021 for implementation.

    Let me at the outset state that I have nothing against the tenure policy. Indeed, I was actively involved in virtually all the critical steps, by the institutional champions and leaders of change, under the Obasanjo administration, to adopt the policy as one of the compelling   measures for reinvigorating and transforming the Federal Civil Service. It is instructive to note that the change champions of that era were Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, Nasir el-Rufai, Nuhu Ribadu, Oby Ezekwesili,  Bode Augusto to  mention a few. The then Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Yayale Ahmed, complemented the economic team in guiding the process of change and transformation.  He was ably assisted by a reasonable number of pro-change permanent secretaries and directors in the service.  

    Goke Adegoroye, pioneer Director General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) was the architect of the introduction of the tenure policy, following his in-depth study regarding the succession crisis in the Federal Civil Service. The study from through 2004 through 2005, evidently, showed that the service was fast losing its capacity to renew or regenerate itself, bearing in mind that Deputy Directors and Assistant Directors were far older than their Directors, and were retiring before them. The career progression of officers was gravely hampered by the perpetuation of younger officers as Directors and Permanent Secretaries, in the top hierarchy of the service, without proven complementary evidence of better capabilities, integrity or commitment to the public service ethos. The service witnessed an alarming situation in which some Directors and Permanent Secretaries were spending between 10-15 years at the pinnacle of the service. It was glaring that it was both inappropriate and irregular within the normal charting paradigm for career progression in the public service of 60 years of age or 35 years of service, whichever comes first, for retirement of officers.  Indeed, most of these officers were transferees from the states who were fast-tracked and promoted over their more experienced and better accomplished in-serving seniors and colleagues-a situation which bred resentment, demotivation, anger and depression in the Federal Civil Service.

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    Recognising the need to urgently redress this unfortunate situation, and restore the service to the path of sanity and decorum, the tenure policy was later conceived, adopted, and recommended for service-wide implementation in 2005, as one of the key deliverables of the Presidential Committee on the Revision of the Public Service Rules and Regulations.

    The tenure policy was eventually implemented in 2010 by Stephen Oronsaye, in his capacity as Head of the Civil Service of the Federation after its gracious approval by late President Musa Yar’Adua, There were concerns, then, however, that the implementation of the policy could have been better done by soft-landing the affected officers rather than giving them marching orders to quit immediately.  It does appear as if the Federal Civil Service  is re-enacting the same scenario, lately, through some notices  given to senior Directors of eight years seniority to retire from service on account of  a tenure policy, included in the Revised Public Service Rules (PSR), purportedly approved by the Federal Executive Council in July 2021.

    But, is it true that the council approved the implementation of the policy in 2021? If the approval was indeed given in 2021, why was it not communicated, by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, shortly after, through the issuance of relevant circulars, to announce the restoration of the tenure policy which was suspended by President Buhari in June 2016? 

    Given that the memo presented to the council, on the subject, would have been a presidential memo, would it have been possible for President Buhari, to take a memo to council and disregard the implementation of one of its key prayers?  Was the approval of the tenure policy specifically listed as one of the prayers in the said memo, to council, seeking its approval to lift the earlier suspension order given by the Buhari Administration on the implementation of the same policy in 2016?

    Was the Council adequately advised on the implications of restoring the policy in terms of anticipated number of officers to be affected, capacity gaps to be addressed, financial implications to government, in terms of terminal benefits and other soft-landing packages, to be availed the affected officers, to reduce the trauma of their forced exit from service?

    Are there any council documents or papers to attest that the policy was validly approved? Regrettably, if, due to either an oversight, or an error of omission or commission, no prayer was canvassed for the lifting of the suspension of the tenure policy in the Memo to Council, would it be right, in administrative parlance, to infer that the President in Council indeed approved the re-introduction of the tenure policy? Is the insertion of a clause on the tenure policy in the Revised Public Rules tantamount to its approval by the President-in-Council even though no specific prayer, or request, was raised on the matter to council? Why did the failure to implement the policy escape the meticulous eyes of the erstwhile Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, who was known for his total devotion, steadfastness and commitment to ensuring that council’s decisions were appropriately implemented by relevant authorities in government?

    I have gone to this length to underscore that it would not only be an abuse of the system, but also a serious breach of administrative procedures, if the laid down processes and guidelines were not followed. Without proper approval, the policy can be said to be invalid, and its implementation will be contentious and improper. It is a settled case, in administrative parlance, that when a request is not couched in form of a specific prayer in a memo to an authority, such request cannot be assumed to have been granted as a decision by the said authority, person or body.  It can only serve as mere information bereft of the status of a proper approval. 

    Alternatively if the policy was duly approved by council, following a prayer to this effect, then the Head of the Civil Service ought to have issued a circular on the restoration of the policy with appropriate guidelines for its uniform implementation across both the Federal Civil Service and the enlarged Public Service. The guidelines should also provide clarity on the dates to be used for the determination of the eight-year tenure for Directors and Permanent Secretaries- between Notional and Actual Dates- in order to ensure that only those within the approved dates are exited from the service. 

    However, if the restoration of the policy was announced without proper approval by council, it is expected that the Head of the Civil Service will approach the president to secure his endorsement for the implementation of the policy without delay. The president is however, at liberty to either endorse or reject the request based on the facts presented before him. Our beloved president has committed himself to running an open, transparent and accountable government in the discharge of his stewardship role to the Nigerian people. It is my expectation that the president will ensure that the laid down processes of approvals, of relevant authorities, are followed in the implementation of the tenure policy in order to calm the raging storm in the federal bureaucracy, on account of the steps already taken by permanent secretaries to exit senior directors from the service, without clear guidelines on the uniform implementation of the tenure policy.

    •Mayomi is a public analyst, pioneer staff of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) and retired Director of the Federal Civil Service.

  • Account for N200b during your tenure, Okorocha tells Ohakim

    Imo state Governor Rochas Okorocha has challenged his predecessor, Chief Ikedi Ohakim, to give account of the N200 billion his administration allegedly got in four years with nothing to show for it.

    The governor also demanded an explanation from the former governor on how he spent the N11 billion for the dredging of Nworie River.

    During his declaration to join the 2019 governorship election and formal defection to the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), the platform on which Okorocha ousted him in 2011, Ohakim had threatened to probe Okorocha, if he returns to office.

    He also vowed to lift the ban on tricycles in Owerri, the state capital, and return the relocated markets, especially the Owerri Main Market, popularly called Eke Ukwu Owerri.

    But a statement by Okorocha’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Sam Onwuemeodo, reads: “The former governor was said to have given that threat while declaring his interest to run for the governorship of the state again in 2019 on the ticket of APGA. He was governor from 2007 to 2011, and was defeated by Governor Okorocha, even as incumbent. And since 2011, he has been contesting for the governorship without success.

    “To us, we won’t dignify the governor with a response but to only remind him about what he failed or refused to do while making the declaration. It was an aberration for the former governor for four years to declare to run for the position again without mentioning at least one or two achievements of the government he led.”

    It added: “In simple logic, you go from the known to the unknown. Chief Ohakim would have told the less than 500 people at the venue of his declaration what he achieved for the four years he was in charge as governor and then tell them what he left behind at the Government House that he has been labouring to come and take.

    “Chief Ohakim knows that nobody would have known that he made declaration for the 2019 governorship election if he did not mention Rochas Okorocha. Hence, the angle of probe. He would have begun with himself to be taken serious. He would have given the assurance that he would find out why he failed woefully in his first outing and what he did with more than N200 billion his government (allegedly) appropriated with nothing to show for it, including the N11 billion on non-existent dredging of Nworie River.

    “Chief Ohakim had eaten his cake and won’t have it again. He cannot even win his Osu-Owerri Ward 2 in any election at the moment. He didn’t do well at all as governor. He wasted the four years. And that is the reason he has become an unattractive candidate to all the parties in the state. He is anxious to fill some gaps but he does not know how to go about it.”

  • ‘Take Buhari’s advice on tenure’

    The plaintiff in the tenure elongation case against the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Wale Ahmed, yesterday hailed  President Muhammadu Buhari for his objection to the “illegal” tenure extension.

    He said he had laid a good example of leadership.

    He described the President as a courageous and forthright leader who will never endorse the violation of the 1999 Constitution and the APC’s constitution by the party leadership.

    Ahmed, a former House of Assembly member and commissioner in Lagos State, recalled that party members were taken aback by the decision to illegally extend the tenure of the National Executive Committee (NEC) and the National Working Committee (NWC) on February 27.

    The aggrieved chieftain said the decision rattled many who protested the move to exclude them from the intra-party leadership elections, which the congresses and the national convention can only guarantee in accordance with the laid down extant laws.

    Ahmed applauded President Buhari, who he described as a performing leader, adding that he also has interest in serving the party as a willing compatriot and ally in good governance.

    He said the President had not failed the nation, judging by his achievements in revatalising the critical sectors of the economy in the last three years.

    Ahmed said the onus was on the NEC and the NWC to heed Buhari’s advice by putting in motion the machinery for the conduct of the congresses at the wards, local governments and states, and the national convention at the national level.

    He said: “I congratulate Mr. President for being unequivocal, courageous and forthright in addressing the issue of tenure elongation. How can a party known as the All Progressives Congress (APC) refuse to hold congresses? The decision makes a lie of the very existence of our party.”

    The former legislator said the party leadership might escalate the controversy and crisis over the tenure extension, if it refused to quickly retrace its steps and release the timetable for the congresses and the national convention.

    He added: “One extra day for the executive committee by whatever nomenclature to truncate the procedures for congresses and convention, either through the setting up of a an acting or caretaker committee, will not stand. There is simply no ground for it, both in the party constitution and the 1999 Constitution.

    “The APC, of all parties, should not even be seen to be taking any illegal step, in whatever guise, at circumventing the constitution and jeopardising internal democracy.”

    Ahmed who was silent on whether he will withdraw the case against the party, said he looked forward to the correction of the mistake already made by the NEC on February 27 by heeding the directive of the President.

    He said: “I am waiting to see how the NEC will handle the controversy after the intervention of the President, and what argument it would canvass against the constitution on the contentious issues raised by the President, who has issued a fatherly directive as the leader of the party.”

  • Legal obstacle for Oyegun’s, others’ tenure extension

    Legal obstacle for Oyegun’s, others’ tenure extension

    More facts emerged yesterday on the fate of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The process of extending party executives’ tenure is spelt out in the Nigerian Constitution, legal sources said, quoting Section 233 (1).

    Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello had announced on Tuesday that the National Executive Committee (NEC) granted the John Odigie-Oyegun-led  NWC an extension of tenure  –  a claim that was debunked by Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) Chairman and Zamfara State Governor Abdulaziz Yari.

    Yari said such an extension could be effective with a constitutional amendment, which only a National Convention could do.

    “Article 30 of the APC constitution states: The constitution and the schedules hereto can be amended only by the National Convention of the party.

    “The process of amending the constitution is also expressly provided in Article 30 sub section 2. This states: “Notice of any proposed amendment by any member or organ of the party shall be given to the National Secretary at least 14 days before the date of the National Convention. The Notice shall be in writing, shall contain a clear statement of the proposed amendment and reasons for it,” Yari said.

    Yari added:  “What was done today (yesterday) is only an expression of a desire to extend the tenure of Chief Oyegun-led National Executive.”

    Many party chiefs and members yesterday realised that those who claimed that the NWC’s tenure had been extended were wrong.

    Many members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Executive Committee (NEC) were yesterday backing out of the decision to extend the tenure of the party’s executives when they discovered that it requires an amendment to the constitution.

    The party has slated another NEC meeting for this month to begin the march to the national convention, the only organ of the party that can amend the constitution.

    Article 30 of the APC constitution stipulates that “this constitution and the schedule hereto can be amended only by the National Convention”.

    This is in conformity with article 223 (1) of the Nigerian Constitution which stipulates: “The Constitution and rules of political party shall provide for the periodical election on a democratic basis of the principal officers an members of executive committee or other governing body of the political party.”

    Oyegun said yesterday that the NEC decision to grant the tenure elongation was because of the “the mighty task” ahead of the party.

    He told reporters in his office that the party wanted to avoid going into the general elections in a crisis, pointing out that congresses and electoral process were potential conflict areas that could affect the general election.

    He said that the leadership of the party was not expecting the decision to be welcome by all members of the party, adding that it was impossible to have 100 per cent support for such a decision.

    Oyegun said: “Well, I don’t want to talk on this sensitive political issue. Suffice it to say that whatever is happening naturally will be contrary view. So, it will be so difficult if you come out with total, one hundred per cent unanimity.

    “But I think the reasons for not wanting to hold some of these elective congresses this year is very clear; we have such a mighty work to do this year and each one has the potential of causing crisis. It has always been that once there is an election, it always creates its own issue.

    “We are going to have first set of party elections, second set of elections to governmental aspirants, other House of Assembly, House of Representatives, Senate, governorship and so on.

    “So, we just felt we could defer some of these issues or the party felt some of these challenges can be deferred for one year because of the serious task before us which are the national elections, and people gave the good examples of Ekiti and Osun. The last time, because elections were due in those two states, the filling of party offices had to be deferred.”

    Oyegun did not, however, say if the “decision”  was legal.

    A chieftain of the party, Timi Frank, described the “decision” of the NEC as “undemocratic”.

    In a statement in Abuja, Frank said the action of the NEC in extending the tenure of the NWC was a clear indication that it does not respect even its own laid down rules and guidelines.

  • No vacuum at end of tenure, says Aregbesola

    No vacuum at end of tenure, says Aregbesola

    Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has said his administration will not leave “government in a vacuum” at the end of his tenure on November 26.

    In a New Year message to the people yesterday, Aregnesola said: “This is an election year in which our tenure will end and a successor must emerge. It is my solemn promise that we will not leave in a vacuum.”

    The governor said he was consulting with leaders and members of the All Progressive Congress (APC) on how to select a person of integrity to succeed him.

    He said: “In consultation with our leaders and the member of our great party, we will carefully select and present to you a successor who belongs to our political tradition of progressive, people-oriented leadership, a person of integrity.

    “He must be someone who shares our aspirations and will take governance to the next level from where we stopped.”

    Aregbesola thanked Osun State residents for their support and sacrifice for his administration.

    The governor hailed workers, especially those he said endured 75 per cent and 50 per cent salary regime since July 2015.

    On the 2018 budget, Aregbesola said he intended to implement it in full.

    He urged the people to support government by paying their tax.

    Aregbesola said: “All the things we desire, like good roads, functional education, recreational facilities, security of lives and property and a conducive environment for the pursuit of happiness and so on can best be provided by the government.

    “No individual or private organisation can provide them to the satisfaction of all the people.

    “This is why we all need to support the government by fulfilling our financial obligations to it in order for it to be able to carry out all its projects satisfactorily too.”

     

  • ‘Tenure controversy mere distraction’

    Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Nsima Ekere has described the controversy on the alleged tenure extension of the commission’s board as a mere distraction.

    Ekere, who spoke while inspecting the N24.5 billion Ogbia-Nembe road, and other feeder roads in Bayelsa State, appealed to those fuelling the crisis to allow the board discharge its mandate of developing the region.

    He said the board would not play politics with the region’s development, and called on politicians interested in the leadership of the NDDC to sheathe their swords and wait for their time.

    His words: “We should concentrate and allow the present board of the NDDC to deliver on its mandate. We don’t need the kind of distractions we are getting now. NDDC needs stability in its management to do all these projects.

    “The stability is needed for the commission and the region so we can concentrate and deliver. I appeal to politicians to please allow the board and management of NDDC work, and when the time for politics comes, as I always say, we shall play the politics.

    “I am very pleased and satisfied with the quality of work done by the contractor. It is noteworthy that this world class performance was achieved despite the very difficult terrain of the Niger Delta.

    “The region has a very challenging terrain and that is why projects cost more here than in other places. To get this project to this level, the contractor had to remove unsuitable materials for as deep as 25 metres in some portions. The project has also seen the use of vertical drains to take away ground water to allow the road to stabilise.”

    “This is an example for other oil companies operating in the Niger Delta. Shell has shown that in addition to its statutory obligation of contributing to the funding of the NDDC, it is also necessary to work with the commission on specific impactful projects.”

  • 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.

  • Tenure policy and future of Nigeria’s civil service

    Recently, the news about the tenure policy in the federal civil service silently burst into the public sphere, and rather silently seems to have fizzled out like most significant issues that concern the progress of the Nigerian state. I however consider the issue one of rather immense significance, especially to the reform and transformation of the civil service in Nigeria, and so deserving of protracted debate and discussion that affects policy about how the civil service can perform and hence fulfil its mandate as a cornerstone of national development. My concern with this issue is, of course, not far-fetched. I have been a civil servant all my life; and my brief revolved around the reform of the civil service system in a way that backstopped Nigeria’s burgeoning democratic governance. For me, therefore, what is at issue is not the appropriateness of removing or retaining the tenure policy, but rather situating it within the overall well-being and performance capacity of the civil service.

    There are so many things that are wrong with the Nigerian state. And the civil service system is one of the focal point of the inability to transit into a developmental state with the capacity to empower its citizens in terms of a democratic service delivery that concretises democratic dividends. And the civil service system in Nigeria has been the focus of more than six decades of active reforms that targets almost every dimension of its operational modalities, from wages to staffing. Yet, these reforms have had ambivalent effect on the progress of the system. Let us cite one cogent instance. By the time the massive purge of the civil service by the Murtala/Obasanjo regime was completed in 1975, the system had been so eroded that civil service professionalism was effectively compromised, and the critical performance that would capacitate the system was effectively lost. It was therefore most appropriate that the Phillips Report, which undergirded the Civil Service Reform of 1988, would essentially be concerned with restoring and enhancing professionalism and performance. Unfortunately, this report politicised rather than professionalised the civil service elite corp. The wastage which ensued from this politicisation was the result of making permanent secretaries political appointees who mark time on a position for as long as the lifetime of the government which appointed them, and effectively ensured the erosion of cooperation and motivation.

    When the tenure policy was established under the Yar’Adua government, one positive purpose it served was as a check against systemic demotivation to career progression officers who have always been in the Federal Service. No one civil servant would have the opportunity of sitting at the helms of affair in a ministry until s/he attained to managerial level through rigorous pipelining and tested career progression. The reversal of this policy simply demonstrates the subtle and not-so-subtle ways in which politics oftentimes trump policy and reform in Nigeria. I doubt if anyone would be able to seriously fault its significance as a plank in any effort to take the civil service, and especially its senior level cadre, to the next level in terms of productivity and performance.

    Let us put the discourse in a new light. The tenure policy is not a stand-alone administrative policy; it does not exist or cease to exist for its own sake. On the contrary, its effectiveness or lack of it, in global administrative best practices, it tied to its specific function in the performance record of the civil service. All across the globe, from USA and the UK to the Netherlands and France, the tenure policy issue goes beyond the career progression of the civil servants; it has often been tied to the urgency of achieving a result-oriented civil service that is lean, economical, effective and efficient. Countries which have confronted the tenure issue have done so, therefore, within the context of a larger smart practice which performance management imperative actualized through the deployment of numerous human resources toolkits like flexible employment policies and performance accountability systems that draw any civil service into the service mandate of producing tangible results.

    When Nigeria lost the golden opportunity presented by the Udoji Report of 1974, the Nigerian civil service system has been in a race against time to constitute the civil service into a policy implementation hub that efficiently delivers development outcomes through the effective circumvention of the policy execution trap which choke visions, development plans and policy outcomes. Since 1974, in other words, the civil service system has failed to achieve a shift from a system which manages input processes to one which supervises output outcomes. Mr. Oronsaye cannot be blamed for his valiant effort at laying the foundation of the tenure policy. The real issue is why successive heads of services have failed to deepen the administrative implications of that policy as a performance game changer which not only tenure civil servants but ask for price of the tenure in terms of accountability for results and outcomes within the context of rigorous and continuous annual assessment metrics. With the politicisation of the issue, and its eventual reversal, it becomes clear that we have on our hand a case of the system protecting its own top management in a manner that precludes accountability and results.

    The tenure policy must be placed within the larger issue of cost of governance and the overbloatedness of the civil service in Nigeria. The reality in the civil service today is not only the existence of many deadwoods and ghost workers who shoot up the overheads of the service. This reality is complicated by the fact that government pay through its nose for the outsourced services of policy consultants and analysts. There is also the obscene surplus of special/personal assistants and special advisers as well as the frameworks of over-reliance on technical assistance from development agencies. All these have become the unfortunate dynamics by which the civil service cope with its own deficiencies, compromised by skills deficits, nepotism, lack of any re-professionalisation programmes that bring the civil servants up to date on current administrative skills, and wrongheaded industrial actions.

    The civil service in Nigeria has a tough choice to make between remaining a lumbering bureaucratic contraption that circumvents Nigeria’s democratic governance and a lean, efficient and professional system girded around by values and procedures that compel performance and results. This is the dilemma that the adoption or reversal of the tenure policy places on us. While the objective of the civil service, according to the National Strategy for Public Service Reform (NSPSR) is fast moving, intelligent, professional, information-rich, flexible, adaptable and entrepreneurial world class civil service that is performance-focused, accountable and capable of creating the policy climate that will instigate a new productivity paradigm in the national economy, there are obviously many options that could take Nigeria to this objective. One of these numerous options is the concept of the Senior Executive Service (SES). This refers to a small, professional, non-political career civil service that would not only enjoy career protection, but would also enjoy a compensation package that serves as adequate incentive, especially in the face of private sector recruitment.

    But the task of the SES goes beyond being retained in the public service. Specifically, it constitutes the nucleus of reflective innovation, leadership core and skills repository of the civil service. It is around the SES that the reform of the civil service can be achieved. Those recruited into this top echelon will be distinguished by a different pay package which is inevitably tied to a performance contract scheme. Thus, the SES is more about administrative leadership, performance outcomes and accountability than about security of tenure. More significantly, the SES option ensures that the civil service system is constantly kept in check within the purview of the administrative requirements of the knowledge society and its reform imperatives. The Senior Executive Service becomes critical in its mandate to increase the intelligence quotient of the civil service at the strategic, tactical and operational levels.

    According to the French ecclesiastic, Cardinal de Retz, “Nothing indicates the soundness of a man’s judgment so much as knowing how to choose between two disadvantages.” The present administration is faced with the weight of public opinions on the rightness of removing the tenure policy or not. The way out, I submit, is to insert the retention of the tenure policy within a larger framework that not only allows the civil service to press its top management into performance management, but also gives the civil service system a firmer footing within the comprehensive change agenda of the government. Tenure by itself makes no sense except within the context of how it facilitates the performance of the system. Or fails to do so.

  • Let tenure be

    Let tenure be

    •Suspension of tenure policy in the federal civil service won’t augur well

    The recent report that President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the suspension of tenure policy in the Federal Civil Service has remained a cause for worry for many watchers of the service. This policy is one of the major planks of the civil service reforms which has been going on albeit, half-heartedly, since 1999.

    The Federal Civil Service in Nigeria may be likened to the proverbial guinea pig used in scientific experiments except that in this case, no attempts have come to fruition nor has any reform enjoyed full implementation.

    Apparently in response to a burgeoning civil service that has continued to get bloated yet delivers little results, no fewer than four reform panels have been set up since 1999 to review the operational modalities, size and service conditions of Nigeria’s number one bureaucracy.

    The last was the Stephen Oronsaye reform committee which report has endured three other review committees; yet neither a final white paper has been issued nor any of the recommendations implemented. It was the most current and perhaps the most comprehensive of all the reform panels as Oronsaye was head of service and principal secretary in the presidency from 1999 to 2010. He was in a pole position to tinker with the service in a most positive and salutary manner.

    But all the attempts to revamp the federal service have come to naught so far. Yet the service is perhaps in the most decrepit state since its creation. It is thoroughly over-bloated with ‘ghost’ workers almost outnumbering bona fide staff as investigations have revealed lately. It delivers hardly any notable results to the people just as it is remarkable for its high propensity for corruption.

    Yet about one third of the country’s recurrent expenditure is plowed into it every year.

    There sure is need for a comprehensive if not surgical reform of the federal service for the new administration to achieve its change agenda.

    It is based on the fore-going that we think the presidential directive to the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Eyo-Ita, to immediately suspend the tenure policy in the service amounts to nothing under the scheme of things. On the contrary, it may portend negative outcomes.

    Until the recent suspension, permanent secretaries, at the pinnacle of the civil service careers, were appointed to serve for a tenure of four years subject to renewal while directors were appointed to serve for eight years barring the 60 years or 35 years retirement precondition.

    The tenure policy was introduced in 2009 during President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s administration. It allowed more senior civil servants grow to the apex of their career as the position became competitive as well as more attainable by all, as they were made to go through assessment processes.

    The tenured system has the special advantage of favouring many more civil servants. It ensures that no single holder of the position of a permanent secretary holds it for more than a maximum of two terms of eight years. Unlike the new directive which poses the danger of keeping a younger person on the exalted seat for an unduly long time at the expense of many other colleagues who may probably be better qualified and more experienced.

    Removing the tenure policy is sure to impact negatively on an already prostrate service. It will breed extreme frustration, ill-will and indeed, bad blood among senior civil servants. It will also tend to favour a section of the country far more than the others to the detriment of the service.

    We urge the presidency to reconsider the directive, weighing its merits and demerits in the overall interest of both the service and the country. The Federal Government should hasten to effect holistic review of the federal civil service considering the committee reports of recent times, harmonising and adopting their recommendations.